Better Days Ahead
by ohsnapxitsemyy
Summary: I don't know why I thought my seventh year would be any better. Detentions are a one-way ticket to the next life, death eaters freely roam the castle, and Draco Malfoy is acting clueless. One thing that hasn't changed: I'm still a magnet for trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**Well hello my fellow readers!  
>Welcome to chapter one of Better Days Ahead!<br>I hope you have already read Better Left Unsaid and, if not, go check it out on my page! Otherwise, you will be dazed and confused. No one wants that!**

**If you've already read Better Left Unsaid, then strap in and get ready for a rollercoaster ride.**

**Read, review, and enjoy!**

Vanessa had to quit her job at the Ministry of Magic. After the death of Professor Dumbledore, she subtly put her two weeks in at the Auror Office. It made her depressed for a good chunk of day's afterword, but we all knew it was for the best.

It was dangerous for her to work at the Ministry these days and no one, Vanessa included, wanted to see her life snuffed out over a job as a receptionist. She knew it had been coming though. Everyone could feel it in the air.

It worked out in all of our favor when she took a job at a local pub in downtown London, where many witches and wizards came from all over the county to drink quietly before rushing home. People just didn't want to be out and about nowadays. There was one night when she was working and a handsome young man happened to stumble upon the pub. After a whole night spent together talking, Oliver Wood asked my sister out on a date.

It's history from there as she would say. I was incredibly grateful to Oliver for taking in his girlfriend's kid sister for the summer. He didn't seem to mind though. He even found the time out of his rigorous quidditch training schedule to help me decorate the room he had set up for me. We had gotten into one too many play fights when he tried to sneakily slap posters of himself onto my walls.

I was even more grateful to him, if possible, when Padma showed up on the doorstep mid-summer, bags packed and tears in her eyes. She had gotten into a fight with her parents about coming back to Hogwarts for our final year- they didn't want her to, she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Her parents wanted to agree to disagree, but the damage of the fight was already done. Parvati chose to stay with her parents for the rest of the summer and Padma moved in with me.

Needless to say, I kept my promise to myself and told my best friend about my relationship with Draco Malfoy. She was angry, though not particularly surprised at the news. She more so wanted to know how good of a kisser he was and if he was really as good in the sack as everyone claimed.

All of this led up to the last week before my seventh year at Hogwarts started and that, my friends, is where my story really begins.

"Merlin, Natalie! Do you even know the meaning of 'clean out your trunk every year'?" Padma teased as she neatly folded the last of her schools robes into her school luggage. She was my best friend in the entire universe, something that I had an odd revelation about at the end of my sixth year. She was also my complete opposite on many different topics.

She had cleaned out her trunk from top to bottom every summer since first year- going through old notes and homework assignments, storing some and tossing others. I, however, was not that kind of person. I had scrapped off the top half of my trunk, much like the rest of my fellow students I'm sure, and continued to stuff new things on top.

Padma thought it would be a good exercise for me to just go through all of it once and for all. Out with the old and in with the new, as she had once put it. Turns out, those words were easier said than done.

"Is that a…GAH! Natalie! What are you doing with a devil's snare plant? Are you trying to kill someone?" She screeched as the plant's long vines shot out of the trunk and took hold of her bare ankle. She grabbed her wand and shot a burst of sunshine at it before it recoiled back into the dark depths.

I contemplated the scene before me with mild interest. "Huh. I wondered what kept trying to grab me whenever I needed to dig for clean underwear."

Padma gazed at me with an exasperated expression. "And it never occurred to you to search for…you know what, never mind. Just don't say anything at all. That will probably be better for both of us."

After finding the devil's snare plant, we both decided it was probably best to just rid the entire thing with magic. We took out our wands and held them up to the trunk.

"Hey can I borrow a- what are you two doing?"

I turned my head to gaze over my shoulder. Vanessa was standing behind us, her eyebrow cocked in a questioning manner. She had hair curlers entwined in her dark locks; a green, gooey mask engulfed her face.

"Padma found a devil's snare plant in my trunk," I explained as I turned back to the luggage carrier, "and she thought it best to just dump the thing magically before something deadlier creeps up on us."

Vanessa didn't quite know what to say for a moment. She narrowed her eyes at me. "And how did you not know about the… you know what, never mind. I don't even want to know. Can I borrow a piece of parchment?"

I gestured openly toward the oak desk situated in the far corner. She hopped into the room, being careful to avoid the broken quills and ink bottles that lay haphazardly across the floor. She let out a squawk of surprise as the devil's snare, once again, shot a vine from the trunk and seized her around the leg.

I lazily flicked my wand toward the plant. A ray of sunshine burst out and the plant's vines, once again, recoiled into the trunk.

"Merlin, just get rid of that thing already," Vanessa snapped impatiently as she made her way back across the room, this time taking care to create a wide berth around the trunk.

I snickered in response as she skirted the edge of the room, eyeing the trunk as if it had done something personally wrong to her. When you thought about it, I guess it really had.

"Don't forget we're going over to moms for dinner in half an hour!" she tacked on as she left the room. She then yelled to her boyfriend something about us housing deadly creatures in his apartment.

I rolled my eyes. "What a drama queen. It's not like it tried to eat her dog or anything. Moving on, you ready for this Padma?"

She poked her wand forward in a gesture that clearly said 'get on with it.' We moved a little closer to the trunk, avoiding the vines that started to creep over the sides.

"On the count of three," she whispered, as if the plant had ears and could hear our plot, "One, two…"

"NATALIE GARCIA!" a voice in mock anger shouted at us from behind.

Padma and I shrieked in response, falling over backwards from the squatted position we had on the floor. This gave the devil's snare just enough time to shoot out its vines and wrap them tightly around our legs.

"Whoa!" Oliver said in surprise as he surveyed the plant in mild interest. "Your sister wasn't kidding. You really are housing deadly creatures in your room."

"Why are you so surprised? This is her we're talking about!" Padma said shrilly, as the plant had started to weave its way up her legs, tightening the vines as it went. "This is entirely your fault!"

"My fault?" I snapped back. "How is this my fault? How was I supposed to remember the Devil's Snare seed I snuck from Herbology in the third year? And how was I supposed to know it would actually grow into a plant?"

"YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS DAMN PLANT AND DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?" Padma launched herself across the floor. Or, she tried to at least. The vines had a hold of her waist and had stopped her a few inches short of my body.

Oliver, utterly amused by this scene unfolding in front of him, finally had enough sense to take out his wand. He shot a ray of light at the vines holding me and they snaked back into the trunk with a defeated air about them. He turned the wand onto Padma, but I quickly tackled him to the floor, effectively knocking the wand from his hands.

"What are you doing crazy?" Padma cried out. The vines had wound themselves around her arms, pinning them to her sides. "This thing is going to kill me!"

"And if I let you out, you're going to kill me!"

I heard a groan of frustration from the doorway and, before I knew it, a final ray of light was shot at the plant. They quickly unwound themselves from Padma's body, shooting back into the trunk at incredible speed. The three of us looked up at the doorway to see Vanessa standing there, un-amused.

"I will kill all three of you if you do not get off this floor and get ready to go." She stomped from the room, a curler flying from her hair and bouncing ominously on the floor in front of us. Oliver got up right away, following my sister like a dog with its tail between its legs.

Padma glared at me for a moment before turning her wand on the trunk and Vanishing the Devil's Snare plant without a sound.

"Wow," I said, trying to sound deeply impressed. Though, I knew she had been able to do silent spells since the beginning of the summer. "I wish I was as good at magic as you are." She rolled her eyes as she pushed herself off the floor, grumbling about changing her clothes into something more appropriate. I thought I heard the words 'immature' and 'crazy as an ogre' thrown in there somewhere.

Padma and I were ready to go forty-five minutes later, much to my sister's dismay. We had decided to walk to my mother's house, as it was now much closer than our old apartment.

The sky was a cloudless blue. The sun sparkled perfectly over the skyscraper buildings. Many parents were sitting on stoops that led to apartment buildings while watching their children play muggle games on the sidewalk. A fountain to the right flowed endlessly and a few people that appeared to be my age splashed joyously in the water.

Having always been the person to ruin parties, I should have known my sister would rain on my happy parade.

"Did you know that Charity Burbage is missing?" she asked casually as we walked in a line down the sidewalk. Well, more so Oliver, Padma, and Vanessa walked in a line down the sidewalk while I trailed awkwardly behind, trying to avoid trees and fire hydrants on the way.

Oliver squinted his eyes in thought as he took my sisters hand. "Charity Burbage. That name isn't ringing any bells."

Padma gazed wide-eyed over to my sister. "Charity Burbage? Are you sure?"

Vanessa nodded in grim agreement. "I heard through the grapevine. They only reported that she resigned from her post at Hogwarts in the Daily Prophet, though." Her best friend still worked in the Auror office, despite all the crazy happenings. It worked out well on our end, because we were able to hear the real news firsthand.

"This seems like a very intriguing conversation," Oliver said as we neared my mother's apartment building, "so I would very much like to be a part of it. Therefore, will someone please tell me who the hell Charity Burbage is?"

"She's the muggle studies professor that Natalie tortured with nail polish in the fourth year," Padma responded quite offhandedly.

"Which is probably why she resigned in the first place…"

Vanessa backhanded Oliver playfully in the stomach. He smiled widely down at her. As much as I often wondered how someone in general could be attracted to my sister (she was a witch on the best of days, no pun intended), they were very happy together and very much in love with each other.

I often proposed to her for him, because I really have wanted to play with a baby for awhile now. Everyone thought that was weird, but it's true.

As my sister jangled the keys in her right hand trying to find the right one, I glanced around the empty side street. Even the non-magical community was feeling the pressure of You-Know-Who's return, though they didn't exactly know why. Parents rarely let their children out of their sights. People refused to go outside after dark.

Being in your own home now was a danger, as many muggles were being murdered for fun and left for the police to work out. These thoughts made me think of my father, who had killed an entire family of muggles. In turn, this made me think of death eaters, which made me think of Draco Malfoy.

I shook my head, trying to rid my thoughts of the boy. I had grown even madder at him since the summer had started and many times I wondered why that was. He hadn't been a part of my life for very long. As a matter of fact, when he was a part of my life it wasn't very constant either, so I wasn't quite sure where all this animosity came from.

The only thing I could figure was that when I heard of all these deaths, destruction of property, and kidnappings I couldn't help but blame it on him. At least partially. Being a Slytherin, I wasn't supposed to take the side of Dumbledore, but I also couldn't help but wonder if any of these things would have happened had he still been alive.

With a force much harder than necessary, Vanessa threw open the door to the apartment building. It flung back and hit the mailboxes lining the wall with a sharp bang. Residents who were loitering in front of the building, many of them taking a smoke break from their daily lives, eyed our group nervously.

Vanessa marched up the stairs, Oliver a close second behind her. I shut the door to the building quietly, not wanting to draw more attention to us than my sister already did.

"Do you think she's right?" Padma whispered, drawing away from the other two to talk to me. "About Professor Burbage I mean."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Wouldn't be surprised, as bad as that sounds. I mean, the death eaters are offing the muggles for being…muggles. Can you imagine what they would do if they found someone who thought them to be highly fascinating?"

She shuddered, but was saved from having to respond, as my mother had thrown open her door, a big smile plastered on her tanned face. Her dark hair was pulled back into a messy bun at the base of her neck, some loose strands stood frazzled around her head. I could hear Eli screaming in the background.

"Vanessa! Oliver!" she pulled my sister and her boyfriend into a right hug, kissing them both roughly on the cheek. "You should come over more often! Vanessa, how come you're so skinny?" Without waiting for a response, she pushed my sister out of the way and grabbed me around the wrist. "Natalie! Where have you been? I've been missing you. Who's your friend?"

It took me a moment to register what she had said; as she was speaking so fast I could barely understand her.

"Mama, this is Padma. She's my best friend." I had forgotten that Padma had never met my mom. Whenever she came over during the holidays, we always stayed at my sister's house. Padma stuck out her hand in greeting, but my mother knocked it aside and pulled her into a tight squeeze.

It caught my best friend off guard, but she was happily hugging her back a few seconds later.

"Any friend of Natalie's is family to me," my mother responded to the introduction as she pulled away, patting Padma on the cheek with fondness. "Dinner is ready to eat. We should probably get started before it goes cold!"

The four of us stumbled across the threshold, kicking off our shoes, and tripping over each other in order to avoid my younger brother, Eli, who had gotten a hold of my mother's wand and was waving it dangerously in the air.

He let out a scream of protest when she snatched it from him, but was happy a moment later when he had managed to pull the air freshener off the kitchen counter. He let out a stream of words in a made up language while running around the living room with a pair of underwear on his head.

"Fletcher turned my brother into a freak," I grumbled as I watched him. Padma snorted in response to my statement, but Vanessa shot me a warning look from across the kitchen. We didn't need another Fletcher blow up in this family. "Where is Fletcher anyways, mama?" I asked louder as I leaned against the table, picking at a cheese and cracker spread.

She smacked my hand away before levitating a bowl of hot soup onto a protective pad. "Being flighty again as usual," she said indifferently, but I caught the steely tone as she finished the sentence. "He had to stay hidden for awhile after the death of Moody. Something about people blaming him for it? I don't really know."

I still wasn't sure why she stayed with him, but Vanessa had drilled it into me that she loved him and not to upset her with my snide comments. The snide comments about my snide comments stopped abruptly when Padma moved in, as she had the perfect ammo on me because of Draco Malfoy.

Yet another reason my relationship was a bad decision.

My mother scooped Eli up from the ground (he tried vehemently to spray her with the air freshener) before plopping him down into a booster seat at the end of the table. He forgot about the spray instantly and eyed the food with a sloppy grin on his face.

"Come, sit at the table. Eat some food," Mama said with a smile, gesturing toward the table. She didn't have to tell any of us twice, as we all fought to get a seat as far from Eli as possible. He had gotten himself into a "food fight phase" and liked to toss whatever he was eating at the nearest person.

Since it was Padma's first time at my mother's house, she had the honors of sitting next to Eli for the duration of the meal. "I don't know why you think he's so bad. He's really rather-" She was cut off as a cube of cheese hit her in the cheek and bounced onto the floor.

I snorted in amusement as I grabbed the ladle for the soup and made to pour some into the bowl in front of me. A loud crack resounded through the apartment at that moment, scaring me half to death. I flung the ladle behind me and it landed with a thud on the floor. Soup spilled onto the table and dribbled on the floor. Eli clapped his hands happily.

"Oh, it's you," my mother said rather heatedly as I caught my sister's eye. We shrugged subtly at one another, not wanting to say something out of respect for my mother. "I wasn't expecting you, so I didn't set a place."

"It's 'lright," he mumbled dryly as he pulled up a seat, scrapping the wood flooring loudly, "I s'pect I won't be 'round too long tonight." He conjured another ladle quickly and dipped it into the soup. We watched him in silent disgust for a moment as he ravenously shoveled the food into his mouth. "What's the bleedin' matter with you? Why are you bleedin' staring at me?"

I turned back to my bowl, no longer hungry for the soup my mother prepared. A grabbed a few crackers and started to munch on them quietly. Padma sent me a knowing side-glance.

"Where have you been?" mama asked politely, scooping some soup into the small bowl in front of Eli. He eyed it greedily before dipping his small spoon into it. "You haven't been home in a few days."

Fletcher shrugged one shoulder, obviously not going to answer the question honestly. "Just been busy, okay? Makin' money for you an' the boy."

I rolled my eyes this time, unable to help it. "When was the last time you spent your own money on my brother?" I shot at him in anger. Vanessa widened her eyes at me. Fletcher paused for a second. "Don't worry, I'll wait," I added on after his silence.

"So, mama, this soup is fantastic," Vanessa said quickly in an attempt to change the subject.

Fletcher was staring down at me in disbelief. He slowly pointed his spoon at me. "You better keep your bleedin' nose out of me life, okay? Or we're gonna-"

What we were going to do, I never found out. At that moment, a very old, very scraggly house elf apparated into the kitchen. I jumped in surprise as the thing clutched its tiny hands around Fletcher's right forearm.

"What in the name of bleedin'-" Fletcher cried out as the house elf vanished into thin air, taking my mother's boyfriend with him. Eli clapped his messy hands, obviously thinking this was a show his parents had put on.

"Well," I said after a moment of silence, as we had all stared at the spot Fletcher had been sitting a few seconds ago. "That hasn't been the weirdest thing I've ever seen."


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I am seriously blown away by all the positive feedback from the first chapter!  
>You are all fantastic, wonderful, and awesome in my mind.<br>I hope you're enjoying this series so far- I've had fun writing it! **

**On that note, continue on to chapter 2!  
>As always: read, review, and enjoy!<strong>

"I can't believe they're forcing people to go to Hogwarts this year," I grumbled as I pushed past a lost-looking girl. She was twirling her wand between her fingers, gazing hopelessly up at the train. "This platform is way out of hand."

Padma and I had gotten our letter a few days before Fletcher was kidnapped by that crazy house elf (we still haven't heard from him…what a shame) and it stated that attendance this year was mandatory for all children aged eleven to seventeen years of age. I was utterly perplexed at this note, until Padma and my sister explained it to me.

"They want to keep an eye on all the students," my best friend had said spitefully. "Want to make sure they're all raised the right way."

"Don't forget about that new Muggle Born law," Vanessa tacked on sourly, "I have a nasty feeling they're going to be pulling kids right and left from school to take them into questioning."

We had sent our attendance reservation in just a few minutes before heading to the platform and I silently hoped it wouldn't get there on time. Hogwarts just wasn't Hogwarts if we were going to be force fed.

"Uh, aren't you going to apologize to that girl? You might as well have shoved her onto the tracks," Padma said with some amusement as we brought our trunks to the back of the train. Smoke twirled around the platform like fog, making it hard to move a few feet without knocking into someone.

"Must be the Slytherin in me," I responded, waving off her concern. It certainly wasn't my fault that the girl was standing too close to the tracks. Get some common sense, sweetheart.

The whistles blew loud and clear above the crowd. A few older looking students turned to tightly hug their parents one last time, murmuring promises of carefulness. Many younger students who didn't fully understand what was going on in the wizarding community merely waved to their parents, wanting to appear cool in front of their friends.

Vanessa and I had said our goodbyes that morning, as she was expected a work to help stock a shipment of whiskey at the time of the train departing. She threatened to have me make an unbreakable vow to keep my head down and my nose clean. I just laughed, but I did pick up the pace on getting out of the apartment in case she decided to really go through with it.

"Oh get out of the way. This clearly isn't necessary," I snapped at a new boy who appeared to be my age, but was busy frantically kissing his older girlfriend. I shoved right through the middle of them, Padma following behind me apologizing to the shocked couple.

"Natalie, you have to calm down. People are getting nervous with you being-"

I tuned her out as soon as I saw him. The blonde hair, the steely gray eyes, his tall frame slumped casually against a pillar as a woman I assumed was his mother spoke to him in fierce whispers. He was glaring at the ground in silence. My heart started to speed up, the anger that resided in my chest slowly started to chip away.

I must have been staring at him for a moment too long, because he glanced up from the ground and our eyes locked into an intense staring match.

"Natalie! Are you listening to…oh," Padma cut off with a smirk on her face as she stared at my horrified expression. "Are you going to go talk to him? Or just stare at him? Seems like you have a few things to discuss if my memory is correct."

Padma thought my relationship with Malfoy was almost as funny as my relationship with Cormac McLaggen, for a few different reasons though. As Malfoy tortured me and I him for the last six years, she thought our relationship would have an ironic and quite amusing twist to it.

"Oh Merlin, he's moving over here. He's moving over here!" I squealed shrilly as he swooped down quickly to kiss his mother on the cheek before excusing himself and heading in my direction. I panicked to say the least and hopped onto the train without a second glance at Padma.

As I was muttering under my breath, a few people sending me concerned side glances as I passed by, I quickly made my way down the overly packed corridor to find a compartment to hide in. I happened to look over my shoulder to see Draco pushing through a pack of second years in his haste to catch up with me. I took my power walk up to a jog.

I was literally running from Malfoy. Last night a house elf kidnapped my mother's boyfriend. This year was sure starting out a little on the strange side.

In a moment of desperation (and the fact that Malfoy was gaining on me), I slid open the door of the nearest compartment, threw myself in, and shut the door with a snap. I sighed deeply in relief, hoping he wouldn't decide to open every single door in his search.

"Erm…hi Natalie."

I glanced over my shoulder in interest, hitching up a fake smile onto my face. Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood were sitting on the cushioned benches gazing at me incredulously. I clasped my hands awkwardly in front of me, snapping my fingers to break up the silence that pressed down between us.

"Oh, hey guys," I finally responded a moment later, trying to think of what to say, "I thought I would just drop in, say hello."

The train slowly started to trudge away from the station. Parents waving goodbye flitted by the small window that sat in the middle of the wall. As the train picked up speed, I found it harder and harder to stay upright. I finally had to place a hand on the wall to my right in order to keep my balance.

"You've never talked to us…ever," Ginny said slowly as she narrowed her eyes at me.

I scoffed at her in faux amusement, trying to weed out some time so I wouldn't have to go back into the corridor. "Psh. Ginny, Ginny, Ginny. It's a new year, new friends. I thought I would see how your brother was doing. Bill, right?"

The awkward silence between the four of us was overwhelming. Luna, who had her wand tucked behind her ear, looked up from the magazine she was flicking through. "Oh, what's Draco Malfoy doing behind you? That's odd. He's staring into our compartment. Well, I think more so at the back of your head. Nargles must be involved. I think I see them actually." She made a swatting motion in front of her face.

"What do you mean Draco's behind me?" I asked in panic as I threw myself flat onto the floor. The wooden door was pressed tightly against my side. "Did he see me?"

Ginny nodded her head grimly. "Yeah, he's…erm…staring at you on the floor."

The door slowly slid open and I rolled over the threshold, the metal piece that held the door into place was cold against the skin on my neck. I groaned in response as I looked up at him.

"Natalie. What are you doing on the floor?" Padma finally caught up to us, placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "You ran so fast, I've been trying to find you for the last ten minutes!"

Draco smirked at me, obviously thinking the scene before him was funny. He bent down, grabbed right under my arms, and hauled me to my feet. I tried to fight off his grasp, but it was too strong against my weak upper body. My first order of business when I got to the school was to research a potion that would make me superman-strong.

"Geroff me," I snapped at Draco, finally able to pull myself away from him, "Seeing you across the platform was enough for me. Remind me to sanitize my arm when we get to the dorms."

Draco tried to smirk down at me, but it tightened into a sneer. He slid the compartment door shut with a snap, effectively keeping Ginny, Luna, and Neville from hearing the conversation we were inevitably going to have.

"Excuse us," he said shortly to Padma and, without hesitating to hear her response, pushed past her and into another compartment down the corridor. "Get out," he said to the group of children sitting there and they scattered quickly, looks of fear on their faces.

"Scaring small children now?" I snorted as I threw myself into a cushioned seat near the window. "Is that your frightening new mission by the dark lord? Seems like a downgrade if you ask me."

Taunting a known death eater was definitely on the list of things my sister didn't want me doing. In fact, I think it was one of the things she specifically mentioned. I would have to consult the written list she shoved into my trunk.

"Natalie, what are you doing? I wrote you three times this summer. And not even one reply from you?" He said in an exasperated tone. I got a good look at him for the first time in a few months. He looked a great deal better than the end of last term, but his skin was still more pallid than I was used to. Dark circles encompassed his eyes, as if he didn't sleep at all over the summer. His overall aura seemed less confident, less egotistical.

I kicked at the carpeted floor with the end of my shoe. "Last summer Cormac McLaggen wrote me six times and I never replied. He didn't get the hint though."

Draco pulled away from me, stunned for a second. There was something stirring deep in his eyes, but it was far from anger. It looked like he was hurt. "So, you're saying you want me to take the hint and stay away from you?"

I fidgeted with my jean pockets. My body was screaming no. All I wanted to do was take him into my arms and kiss him, try to take away any pain that resided in him. But then my mind, thankfully, took over and reminded me of all the lies, the insults, how he was involved in the death of Albus Dumbledore, how he didn't do anything when I was in the hands of a werewolf.

He wasn't a changed person and he never would be.

"That's right," I finally said, turning my gaze up to him. His eyes seemed to close off, hiding any emotion that would have been present there. "I don't want to talk to you. I don't want anything to do with you. I just want you to leave me the hell alone."

He didn't move for a moment. His arms were crossed over his chest, his steely gaze bored into me. "Just know." He took a step toward me. "That I'm going to spend the next year trying to fix whatever wrong I did to you. You can't get rid of me that easily."

He stepped away from me and slid the compartment door open. Once he left, the door slid shut, clicking quietly to signify it had locked back into place. I let out the breath I had been holding in and rested my head against the cold window. We had passed by any remnants of civilization and were speeding through a forest thick with tall trees.

After regaining my composure, I stepped out of the empty compartment and made my way down the corridor, expecting to find Padma leaning against the wall waiting for me. Instead, she was situated awkwardly between Neville and Luna while Ginny flicked through the Daily Prophet. Evidently she didn't have anywhere else to go.

I opened the compartment quietly and Padma's face lit up hopefully.

"Well, it's been real fun," she said slowly, untangling herself from between our two fellow students, "But I really should probably get going. I have…things to check on."

Ginny shrugged indifferently, still flicking through the newspaper that was in her lap. Neville and Luna slid toward each other, closing the space between them. They smiled at us and waved goodbye, promising to catch up with us at school.

We were just about to step out of the compartment when the train started to slow down with an incredibly sudden force. I lost my balance and toppled on top of Ginny, effectively crushing her newspaper. Padma was thrown into one of the empty cushioned seats.

"What the hell was that?" I asked as I pushed myself off Ginny and straightened out her newspaper quickly with my palms.

Neville gazed out the window, pressing his head against the pane to try and see as far down each end of the train as he could. "We've stopped over a bridge. I can't see anything else though."

The door behind us clicked suddenly and we all turned our attention onto it. Padma, who was closest to it, grabbed the knob and tried to pull the door open. Whatever had happened to it, the door was locked tight. The train had stopped moving right in the middle of the bridge and I had a slight worry about the bridge collapsing under us.

The compartment door opened with brute force, scaring the living daylights out of me. I let out a rather girly scream and hopped into the lap of Ginny Weasley, who looked put out once again by her newspaper being crumpled.

Neville whipped his head toward the door. Padma let out a shriek and fell to the ground. Ginny probably would have done something if I hadn't been in her lap with my arms thrown around her neck like an oversized baby. Luna managed to only look mildly surprised, but that was the look on her face most of the time.

"Natalie, would you get off me," Ginny grumbled as she unceremoniously dumped me onto the seat I had previously been sitting in. She sent me a glare that clearly said she would like nothing better than to drown me in the nearest toilet. What a nice girl.

Neville stood up suddenly and my thoughts switched back to the situation in front of us. I turned my head toward the door to see a masked man standing there, staring ominously down at the five of us. He gave off the aura of being a bad guy. Though I couldn't see his face, I imagined his eyes sweeping the compartment closely. He was definitely looking for something.

"Oi," Neville said loudly, "we don't have him hidden underneath our robes. He's not here, loser."

I could have sworn I heard the man grumbled under his breath about hating children as he shut the door with a loud snap. It locked audibly once again, although none of us tested to make sure.

"Again, what the hell was that?" I asked, breaking the thoughtful silence that had pressed down on us. Padma and I looked at each other with confused expressions. Luna merely returned to her magazine, which I could now see was the Quibbler. The train started moving forward with a loud chug

"Death eaters," Neville said with a steely tone that I was surprised to hear in his voice, "Probably looking for Harry Potter. They've been searching the country, I've heard. Haven't been able to find a trace of him."

Ginny made a small noise at the back of her throat. "I can't help but notice there are a lot of people gone that should be here." She turned to look at Padma, who was slumped down in the seat quite comfortably. "I didn't see your sister, for example."

Padma sighed deeply before responding. "We had a fight with my parents. They didn't want us to come back to school, but we did. I just packed up my things and crashed at Natalie's house. My sister didn't want to do that to our parents, so she stayed with them. They've probably gone back to India by now to visit our relatives."

I narrowed my eyes in thought, staring out the window as an empty field passed by quickly. "Ginny, you're right now that I think about it. I haven't seen Hermione or your brother either."

"Or Dean Thomas," Neville piped in, looking around at the four of us. "I read in the paper yesterday that he was being called into questioning. He's on the list of the missing muggle borns."

Silence came down on us once again as we were consumed by our thoughts. So they were definitely smoking out the muggle borns, trying to wrangle them up like cattle and do Merlin knows what to them. My sister had told me a rumor she heard about how they were just chucking the muggle borns that showed up for questioning directly into Azkaban. No wonder Dean Thomas was on the run. I would be too if I were in his shoes.

The next few hours were filled with random talking and game playing, as Padma and I were too lazy to go find a separate compartment and the other three had too much of a heart to kick us out.

"HA! I won again!" Ginny yelled triumphantly as she threw her hands into the air. I pulled away from the smoking stack of cards and groped my face, wanting to make sure my eyebrows were still intact. We had been playing with Exploding Snap cards for the last twenty minutes. The goal was to see who could build the tallest card house before the entire stack detonated. Ginny seemed to have the game down to a science, which is why she had won the last three.

"Again?" she grinned at me as she touched the tip of her wand to the cards. They mended themselves immediately. The last of the smoke curled into the air and disappeared with a twist.

"You're on!" I smirked at her, touching my own wand tip to my card deck. I quickly started to balance cards into each other in an effort to build another house.

"Can't you play something a little…quieter?" Neville asked slowly as he eyed the two houses with concern.

"Sorry Neville," Ginny giggled, not bothering to stop stacking the cards accordingly as she spoke. "But the name comes with the game."

Padma snorted as she continued to flick through the Quibbler issue Luna had handed her a few minutes previously. "Look who you're talking to, Neville. Do you think those two would ever play a quiet game?"

Neville, who seemed to agree with her, turned his attention back toward the window. The lights in the compartments and corridors had lit up as the sun outside set behind the mountain range. We were close to the castle. I could feel it after the countless train rides I'd partaken in.

My nerves began to ramp up, buzzing throughout my body with a zip that sent shivers up my spine. As my card house blew up once again, I announced that I was going to take a quick walk around the train to stretch my muscles.

"Alright, just be back in a few. We've almost reached the platform," Padma said as she slid down from her perch on the cushioned bench to face Ginny in the card house battle. Ginny smiled at her competitively, baring her teeth in an almost mocking fashion. "Bring it!" I heard Padma snap at the red head as I slid the door shut.

It felt good to walk around the corridors, even if it was for a minute. I had been sitting on the ground for far too long. My knees ached from being tucked underneath my body. I twisted my back in an attempt to crack it.

"How come they didn't take YOU with them?" I heard a voice resonate nastily behind me. I sighed quickly as I turned to look over my shoulder. Pansy Parkinson was sneering at me, flanked by Millicent Bulstrode on her right side. She took a few steps toward me. "I'm surprised to see a mudblood lover still on this train."

I rolled my eyes, as I reached into my back pocket for my wand inconspicuously. Taunting Pansy was definitely on my list of "do not do" from Vanessa. I really needed to consult that thing. "I'm surprised they let someone as ugly as you onto this train."

Okay, I admit, not my best comeback. What else was I supposed to say? So I did the next best thing. I whipped my wand from behind my back and shot a jinx at her before she could figure out what was happening.

She squawked in protest as a large blob of green and blue goo shot out from the tip of my wand and smacked her square in the face. The goo slid down her forehead, dripping off her nose and her lips. It stuck to her eyelashes, fusing them together in a way that she had to squint to open her eyes.

I had always wanted to find someone to try it on. Evidently it worked.

"Natalie Garcia!" a low voice snapped over the head of Pansy Parkinson, who was now scraping the goo frantically from her eyes. "Detention!"

My eyes snapped up to the blonde boy, who was staring down at me in mock anger. Heads stuck out of compartments down the hallway to see what the commotion was all about. I snorted in amusement as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Oh yeah? Says who? You're just a prefect."

The mocking tone of my voice made the amused look on Draco's slid off his face like the sap I had planted onto Pansy's. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, green and black badge that had a large H stuck right in the middle.

I found it amazing that, in the midst of a war, Snape had still picked a head boy for the school term. I visibly slouched my shoulders in defeat.

Yeah, it was going to be a very long year indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mmm…don't know how else to say my readers are awesome without sounding repetitive, so just know that you all are the best readers ever!**

**Again, no news from me. Hope you are liking part 2 in the series so far.  
>Read, review, and enjoy!<strong>

Evidently the Death Eater Infiltration of my seventh year wasn't over yet, as two unknown professors were sitting at the High Table for breakfast the morning of our first day of classes. I made my way over to Padma at the Ravenclaw table, narrowing my eyes at the two in question.

She moved her book bag off the bench, throwing it onto the floor unceremoniously. The books made a dull thud against the stone ground.

"So who are the two new bozos?" I asked quietly as I buttered some toast. Terry shot a scandalized glance at me, as if insulting the professors was a personal offence against him as well. I glared at him until he looked away. We were not on speaking terms anymore after he sent a rather uppity letter to Padma explaining why he liked her sister more.

He lost all the respect I had for him. Now, I was hell bent on making his last year at Hogwarts as miserable as I could without being overdramatic.

"Professors Amycus and Alecto Carrow. Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies professors," Padma said as she pushed my schedule toward me, "Which, by the way, are both mandatory lessons this year."

I groaned in response as I banged my head on the wooden table. "I haven't taken Muggle Studies since like the fourth year! This is going to be terrible. What on Earth are they going to teach us in that class?" I lifted my head and took a large bite of my toast. "And what kind of names are Amycus and Alecto?"

Padma shrugged, taking a bite of her oatmeal. "Don't ask me. I didn't name them."

I caught the sight of Draco Malfoy walking into the Great Hall. He no longer had the confident swagger to his step. He kept his head down, eyes glued to the floor. From across the room I could see that, despite the fact that he had gone to bed earlier than me, he was very pale and the dark circles hadn't let up.

I had to peel my gaze away from him as he sat down across from Pansy and Blaise, not saying a word as he spooned some eggs onto a plate in front of him.

"So what's on the slate for today, boss?" I asked jokingly to my best friend. She swung her straight, black hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at my question.

"I just handed your schedule to you!" she complained as she tied her hair into a ponytail at the base of her neck. "But no matter, double Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, and Charms. What a way to start the year off, right?"

The warning bell rang as I opened my mouth to respond. Students of all ages moved almost simultaneously as they collected their books and bags from the tables. I saw a few newer looking people consult maps and schedules with confused looks on their faces. I couldn't help but feel bad for some of them. Being a sixth year at a school when you've been homeschooled your entire life had to be tough.

"You coming, Nat?" Padma sighed as she hitched her bag over her shoulder. I nodded solemnly, not wanting classes to actually start. I liked coming back to Hogwarts every year, but having to go to lessons was definitely a drag.

"Don't want to be late for the first Defense class," I snickered as I hitched my own bag over my shoulder. It was lighter than usual, as a few of the books we needed last year were no longer necessary for NEWT preparation. Plus, Amycus and Alecto seemed to have forgotten to order books for us this year. "I can only imagine what kinds of joy it's going to add to my life."

We pushed our way through the crowds of underclass students, marveling at how small they've gotten over the years.

"I definitely was not that scrawny," I chuckled as a first year girl scuttled past me, her hair tied in a long braid down her back. Her book bag seemed to weigh as much as she did and it bounced against the back of her knees as she power walked.

"Uh, yeah. You kind of were," Padma responded playfully as we joined the line of people outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Neville and Seamus were murmuring in the corner closest to the door. Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were seemingly having an intense conversation on the other end of the corridor.

An intense conversation that Draco obviously wasn't a part of. He stood near the front of the line, loitering awkwardly as if he didn't know where to go. It was strange seeing him without his usual confidence. He seemed like a completely different person.

The door banged open, cracking against the stone wall loudly. All of the students jumped in response as we hightailed it into the classroom, not saying anything under Amycus' stern gaze. I took a seat with Padma in the middle of the classroom. I didn't want to appear eager to be in his class, but sitting at the back would brand me as a trouble maker and I really wanted to try hard to not disappoint Vanessa this term.

"Wow, do you think he needs to be eating such a big breakfast in the morning?" Padma muttered as we took out our wands and placed them on the table. I saw what she meant as soon as I turned my attention to the new professor.

He was short and stocky, but not in an "I've got muscle" kind of way. His face was doughy, as was his middle, and he had tiny, green eyes that seemed to sink into his large face. His stubby fingers gripped the wand in his hand menacingly. His mouth leered lopsidedly as he glared at the class.

"I think he needs to lay off the breakfast," I mumbled back and the two of us broke down into a fit of giggles. The whole class seemed to hold its breath at this sudden burst of noise. Amycus clearly wasn't the kind of professor that tolerated giggling.

A yellow jet of light was shot at us from the front of the classroom. I had just enough time to pull Padma down with me as the jinx dug into the wall, spraying the back row of students with dust. We landed on the floor with a thud. We looked at each other with identical expressions of shock.

"Did that seriously just happen?" Padma murmured under her breath in a whisper that only I could hear. I shrugged my shoulders as I started to push myself toward my seat.

"Are you out of your mind?" I called from the floor in protest as I finally gripped the edge of the table and pulled myself up. Padma was still on the ground, struggling right herself. Amycus shot another spell at me and this time I landed flat on my stomach. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is going to be different this year, yes it is," he grinned manically across the classroom. I could almost see the shiver of anxiety ripple through the room as I sat in my seat, now officially on edge.

I felt a pair of eyes on me and I turned my head slightly to the left. Draco was sitting at the front of the room, gazing at me in concern. He furrowed his eyebrows in a way that I couldn't decipher between confusion and anger. I returned my attention to the nut job at the front of the room, in case he decided to pull another fast one on me.

Crabbe and Goyle were looking at this professor with newfound respect. I felt my stomach churn in disgust as they glanced at each other in glee.

"No more books," Amycus said as he slapped a book from the desk. It almost beheaded Ernie Macmillian, but Amycus didn't bother to apologize. In fact, I doubt he even noticed he almost killed a student on the first day. "No more assignments." This time, he knocked a stack of parchment to the floor. It crunched as he stepped over it. "Just pure practice."

A hand shot up in the air from the other end of the class. I almost groaned as Pansy politely asked what kind of things we would be learning this year. She had never cared before. She must personally know this guy. The images swirled around in my head before I could stop them and I gagged a little bit. Padma shot me a glare.

"Ah, glad you asked," He chuckled as he twirled his wand around the stubby fingers once again, "This year will be focused on…unforgivable curses."

I snorted audibly. The class snapped their attention to me as Amycus narrowed his eyes. Great, the first day and I had caught the eye of this crazy professor not once, not twice, but three times. I think it was a personal record.

"Did you have a different plan for this year?" Amycus asked dangerously. I could almost hear Padma's silent pleas for me to answer in a polite, respectful way. Obviously she didn't know who her best friend was.

I shrugged my shoulders. "We learned about Unforgivable Curses three years ago. You are a little behind on the times."

The class sharply inhaled as they glanced uneasily back to the professor. He grinned shortly for a moment in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. This was not going to end well for me.

"Well I bet you didn't learn it the way I'm going to teach it." Amycus bared his teeth in malice. "_Crucio!"_

I jumped out of my seat as the curse broke off a piece of the chair, splintering the wood and cracking the seat. Padma fell out of her seat in shock. Neville and Seamus stared at me with expressions of horror. Draco looked as if he wanted to say something, but didn't want to make the situation worse.

"You are crazy!" I shot at him. "You can't just fire off unforgivable jinxes at leisure!"

"You're right," he said in mock realization. "I can't just do it at leisure. Detention for you girly, tonight at eight o'clock. I'll show you how…leisurely…I can make it."

I slowly sat down in my chair, ignoring the stab of wood that stuck me in the butt. I had really gotten myself into trouble this time. If this was regular class time for him, I really didn't want to witness what he thought detention was supposed to be.

"You think that punishment is too harsh, Malfoy?" Amycus shot across the room at the blonde haired boy. My heart rate rose as I looked at him. He had a stern gaze on his face, erasing any of the unsure expressions that had been there earlier.

"No, you're right to give the girl detention," he answered smoothly. "She's been rude and inconsiderate for a seventh year student, especially since she's a Slytherin." He shot me a glare, but I caught the subtle wink he threw at me. "But I do know that you were already, erm, busy this evening. So I thought I would offer my services as head boy to perform the detention for you."

The stocky professor tottered on his heels. For a moment, I was afraid he was going to say no. I shook my head quickly and thought he was going to say yes. Out of these two people debating over my fate in detention, I wasn't certain which one I would rather spend the evening with.

"Meet up with me after class," he finally responded roughly as he took out his wand and shot another jinx casually at me. I threw myself out of the seat once again. I was really getting tired of picking myself up off the floor. "I'll talk you through the plans I have for punishments this year."

"I have a feeling I already know sir," Draco replied with a satisfied smirk on his face. He slumped back into his seat, face transitioning into the sad expression he had been wearing since our discussion on the train yesterday afternoon.

Through my anger at him, through my hatred for what he did last year (and trust me, I didn't forget that he ruined Hogwarts indefinitely. Especially since meeting the lovely Amycus), I couldn't help but be grateful toward him for bailing me out of an evening with an adult death eater.

"Whew, that was an unforgettable lesson. Am I right?" I joked with Padma as I elbowed her lightly in the ribs. She turned to look at me so sharply that I actually jumped back in surprise. "Padma, what's the matter? You look really upset."

"Upset? You think I look upset?" she said shrilly, her voice rising hysterically with every word she spoke. "We have a demented death eater as a professor. No, not just one. Two of them! We have two of them in this damn castle." She looked to be on the verge of tears at this point, so I pulled her away from the crowd and into an empty corridor. "And YOU! I thought you of all people would have enough sense to keep that big mouth of yours shut in that kind of situation. But no, you had an unforgivable curse shot at you and earned a detention with…surprise, surprise! A DEATH EATER!"

I looked at her in concern. She was really upset about this whole prospect, more upset than she should have been in my opinion. "If it makes you feel any better, it's only a mini death eater. I don't think he can cause any serious harm."

She laughed loudly, and humorlessly, as she turned away from me to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "A mini death eater. That's great, Natalie Garcia, that's great. He is dangerous and probably as messed up as the siblings!"

I furrowed my brow. "Are you actually mad at me?" In the six years we had known each other, we never had a real fight. We had spurts of anger toward each other that were quickly resolved over rock, paper, scissors. Never a real fight though. I wasn't necessarily looking forward to starting one anytime soon either.

"Yes!" she exploded in such force that a group of second years stopped at the entrance of the corridor to stare in amazement at the noise. "Yes I am mad at you, Natalie! I just watched my best friend get shot at with the Cruciatus Curse and what did you do? You taunted him even more and made a joke into it! So yes, I am a little irked at the entire situation."

"Padma I-"

She stuck her hand in my face in a rather immature fashion. "Just save it. I'm going to class." She stomped away from me nosily, effectively scattering the group of second years mingling at the mouth of the entrance.

I sighed in defeat. Obviously the stress of the beginning of this term was already starting to peek through. I hitched my book bag higher onto my shoulder and followed her out of the corridor. The bell signifying the start of classes rang loud and clear, echoing over the empty hallways.

Great, now I was late to my first Muggle Studies class. I picked up the pace, knowing full well what kind of lesson this one was going to be.

The door to the class was cracked open, so I poked my head into the crack to make sure I wasn't going to get cursed into oblivion. A fair number of students were sitting solemnly in their seats, their attention focused at the front of the classroom.

The rest of them, mostly Slytherins, were lounging casually in their chairs laughing and chatting about what this lesson could possibly be about. I didn't see Alecto in the room yet, so I was able to slip in unnoticed by the front half of the room.

Pansy sneered at me as I walked past her. She tried to reach out and grab my arm, but I jumped out of the way in time to avoid her talon like fingers. I was relieved to see that, despite her anger at how I handled the first lesson of the year, Padma had saved me a seat on the other side of the room.

"I'm sorry, best friend," I muttered as I set my bag quietly onto the floor and took my seat. "I didn't mean to upset you. I guess back talk is kind of in my nature."

Her stiffened figure relaxed slightly as she turned to look at me. "And I'm sorry for yelling. I should know by now that you have no control what comes out of that little mouth of yours."

I smiled at her joking tone, more relieved than ever that she had cooled down so quickly. I needed her to be my best friend right now. What would happen if we ever got into a real fight and I lost her…I don't even want to think about it. I threw an arm over her shoulder and squeezed her into a quick hug as a side door banged open, ending any and all conversations going on.

"Put everything away. You won't need it," a woman's voice barked from the front of the room. I glanced around the room. No one had even bothered taking anything out of their bags. Having had the joys of experiencing Amycus earlier, we all wanted to keep our things in a consolidated pile in case we had to leave the classroom in a frenzied hurry.

The woman looked much like her brother, except the doughy look was a much better fit on him. She was shorter than him, although much stockier, and the combination of those two things made her appearance rather lumpy. Her eyes were set deep into her menacing face. Despite her title as the Muggle Studies professor, she looked much more dangerous than her brother.

I really had to watch myself around this one. Maybe I would take Padma and my sister's advice into account after all.

"Draco Malfoy, late on the first day," the professor sneered toward the back of the classroom. I turned to look over my shoulder and my heart leapt out of my chest as I saw Draco fiddling with a chair in the back corner and throwing himself down into it. "Daddy won't be very happy, will he?"

A few Gryffindors sniggered in response to her taunting, but were shut up quite quickly when she casually flicked a spell over to them. They ducked under the table, but the curse grazed Neville Longbottom's cheek and it cracked like a whip where it made contact.

He let out a shout of pain as a deep, red welt appeared almost instantly on his face. The stocky woman didn't look fazed as she glared at Draco from the front of the room. I had to admit to myself, it looked much more terrifying when the siblings were cursing somebody else. I now understood Padma's anger at me, as I had just witnessed the helpless feeling for myself.

"We're going to be talkin' 'bout filthy muggles this year," Alecto finally began as she tore her gaze away from Draco. "Filthy, stinkin' muggles an' how they tore away our freedoms an' forced us to live in separate communities. We gonna talk 'bout how to get our freedoms back if it's the last thing we do."

I wasn't surprised to see Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy sitting on the edges of their seats, looking highly interested at what Alecto had to say. Looks of glee were plastered on their faces as they drank in the profoundly inaccurate teachings of bozo number two.

A snort issued across the room. Padma elbowed me sharply in the side, but I turned to look at her with wide, innocent eyes. This time, it really wasn't me. I shrugged at her in disbelief as we craned our necks over the students to see who the culprit was.

I spotted him before Padma did. Neville Longbottom had his elbows resting on the desk, both hands clasped tightly over his mouth as his eyes danced in amusement. He was trying not to laugh. I was very surprised to see this, as Neville was usually the person cowering terrified in the corner of the room if anything happened.

Alecto turned her attention onto the boy. Her menacing, unreadable eyes bore into his as he slowly straightened himself up in the chair. "Something funny, boy?" she asked dangerously as she took a few steps toward him. It reminded me of the time Snape had threatened to tie me to a plank of wood and prop me up next to Draco Malfoy.

The prospect of that scene didn't seem so bad now.

"No, ma'am," he said politely, though I could tell from his tone he was on the verge of saying something he shouldn't. "Though, I was wondering to myself how much muggle blood you and your brother have."

Alecto didn't even give us time to gasp in astonishment, as she slashed her wand through the air. The spell once again cracked like a whip through the air as a large gash ripped across Neville's welt. He didn't yell out in pain like the last time, but a sound of audible defiance hissed through his bared teeth as he glared at Alecto. There was a moment of silence while I realized this wasn't going to be like any year of Hogwarts I had ever experienced before. The Hogwarts I knew and loved was officially gone.

As the bell rang an hour later, I quickly grabbed my bag. Padma and I were the first out of the classroom, despite being almost as far from the door as the room made possible. Draco was the third out and he grabbed my arm, dragging me down the corridor away from Padma.

She seemed torn, unsure of whether to stay or to go. I gestured to her that I would catch up with her later before turning back to look at Malfoy, my arms crossed over my chest.

"What do you want?"

He tottered on his heels, rocking back and forth for a moment as the words seemed to be on the tip of his tongue. He took a deep breath before answering. "I just want you to be careful. The Carrows, they may look stupid, but they're dangerous. They'll whip out their wands faster than-"

"I know that now," I cut him off sharply as I held out my hands. My palms were lightly scratched from throwing myself down onto the floor three times earlier that morning. I turned to walk away from him, but he grabbed my arm.

"What? No thank you? I saved your ass in Defense this morning! You were going to have detention with Amycus and now you have it with-"

"Mmmm…no, I don't," I cut him off again with a humorless smile. "I'm not going to any detention with you. I'd rather get my workout in avoiding the Cruciatus Curse anyways."

Draco looked visibly stung for a moment and I wondered if what I said was kind of harsh. He took a step back from him, his gray eyes icing over so they were unreadable once again. The last time I saw that look was at the beginning of the year when I tried to wrangle information out of him.

"Fine, if you want to act like that. Be my guest. Get yourself killed for all I care."

I watched him storm away through a group of seventh years that had just exited the DADA classroom. They scattered quickly as he pushed through them. Many yelled in protest, no longer afraid to stick up for themselves. As he turned the corner down the hallway, I groaned as I slid down the nearest wall.

I really did a good job of mucking things up for myself. The hole that resided deep in my heart wrenched a little bit, creating a bigger gap than had been there five minutes earlier.


	4. Chapter 4

**HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!  
>I hope you all had a great celebration or whatever you ended up doing for the New Year.<br>Here is a new chapter- the first for 2012!**

**Chapter 4!**

**Woot woot!  
>Read, review, and enjoy!<strong>

"Get out of my way."

Padma contemplated me thoughtfully as we made our way from the Great Hall toward Defense Against the Dark Arts. It had been a week since my fight with Draco and the two of us still weren't seeing eye to eye.

"Hmm…aren't you just a ray of sunshine this beautiful fall morning," she threw in as she casually followed me. I had been stomping around the castle in a pretty foul mood ever since the fight, convincing myself that Draco really had been the one that screwed up and not me.

Even though I knew, deep down, that I was wrong. I decided to shove that feeling into a cramped box and stuff it behind the "caring for Amycus and Alecto Carrow" emotion in the depths of my soulless heart. Okay, so I was being a little overdramatic. Kill me.

I glared at Padma as we reached the classroom. My fellow students were queued at the door and I wasn't surprised to see that Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were now at the front of the line, very much unlike last year. They were the first to enter the room and the last to leave, taking their time to learn valuable tricks and jinxes from Amycus.

Many of these had been tested on me in the last week. All of them in front of Amycus. None of them went punished.

"I'm just saying," Padma said as she reached me, putting her hands up in a mock surrender. "That I think you should either talk to him or let go of all this pent up anger. It really isn't good for your skin. Look! You already have frown lines in your forehead."

I swatted at her hand as she poked my forehead. "You aren't funny," I replied in a deadpanned tone. I really was too stubborn for my own good, though I thought that Draco was too stubborn for his own good too.

And it WAS his fault, through the grapevine, that I was being cursed by Amycus on the daily. He accepted the mission, he accomplished said mission (though through someone else), and now the sibling professors from Hell are here to stay.

Maybe I wasn't being so dramatic after all.

I glanced around the corridor, where more of my classmates had joined the line in the past few minutes. Neville and Seamus were lingering near the back with looks of determination of their faces, accompanied by Ernie MacMillian who had the same look, though much tamer. It was strange to see the three of them together, but under the current circumstances none of them had anyone else to turn to.

I tried to flick my gaze away as I spotted him walking up, but I wasn't fast enough. Draco was staring at the ground quietly, seemingly not wanting to bring any attention to himself. His hands were shoved into his pants pockets, his tie was loose fitting in a way that only he could pull off.

I must have been staring at moment too long, as he flicked his gaze up to me. The sadness left his eyes as quickly as it had appeared and it was like a steel door went down in his brain from how fast I could no longer read his emotions.

He hitched a sneer up onto his face just as the classroom door opened with a bang, saving me from any response- verbal or otherwise.

"In," Amycus cut across the corridor shortly. Pansy flounced into the room with an excited pep in her step. I narrowed my eyes at the back of her head. She must know something, judging by the hyped up expression on her face.

The rest of the class filed in silently, not bothering to take any books or parchment out of their bag as they found seats. I sat next to Padma toward the back. I found that if I switched up my seat every so often, it took longer for Amycus to figure out where I was, therefore taking longer to shoot a jinx at me.

I moved my wand from my book bag to a pocket on the inside of my robes, just in case I would need to use it today. I really hoped I wouldn't.

As the excitement zinged throughout the members of the Slytherin house, sans Draco, the dread pressed down on the other three houses, myself included.

"What is going on with them?" Padma hissed as she leaned toward me. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. I didn't talk to any of them; therefore I had no idea what they were all planning.

The door shut with a loud snap. I took a deep breath as the usual ominous feeling of being trapped in a cage with a hungry lion took over the classroom. Many students held their breath as Professor Carrow made his way through the aisles of desks toward the front of the room. He elbowed Ernie in the head as he passed, but didn't bother apologizing as he did so.

Evidently, death eaters weren't very good at apologies.

"Cause of what happened at…the ministry," Amycus said through bared teeth. He wasn't in a very good mood this morning. Though, when was he? "We're going to learn something that that every student should know how to do."

Crabbe and Goyle might as well have been dancing on their tables from how excited they appeared to be. Padma and I glanced at each other anxiously. Anything that made the two of them happy was going to make the rest of us completely miserable.

"Please, sir," Pansy shot her hand into the air with a confused look, "what happened at the ministry? Can you tell us?"

Amycus slammed his hand down onto the table nearest him in frustration. A sleepy, new student who I didn't know the name of jolted out of his stupor at the noise. "The infiltration of Undesirable Number One. Couldn't catch him, but we will next time."

Whispers and hisses issued through the classroom immediately. I turned to Padma, who appeared quite worried at this startling news. "Undesirable Number One? Who-?"

She didn't even have to answer me as the light bulb switched on in my brain. Who was the number one person the death eaters had been searching for since his disappearance midsummer? Harry Potter. He must have broken into the ministry somehow and really mucked up their plans for Amycus to be this upset about it.

I now fully understood Neville and Seamus' defiant expressions. They must have heard from other sources before the news had broken from the Defense professor. I glanced across the room to them. Both boys were unsurprised, though much more hardened at the announcement.

"Is he even allowed to tell people that?" I leaned toward Padma once again, as she didn't bother to answer my first question. "Isn't there some unwritten rule from Moldywart saying that they can't mention anything like that?"

Padma groaned in a way that she probably thought was inaudible, but I definitely heard it. "I really wish you would stop finding ways to twist You-Know-Who's name. That karma is going to bite you right where the sun don't shine."

I had to fight the smirk off my face at her response.

"Please, sir," Pansy said one more time. I thought I was going to throw up in my mouth at her persistence to please our new professor. That gave me a quick thought to make another betting sign up page for this one's untimely firing, death, or otherwise. "Can you tell us what our lesson today will be? How is it going to be related?"

Amycus flicked his gaze across the classroom, only stopping when it landed on me. I scooted myself to the edge of my seat, awaiting the curse to come flying toward me.

"_Crucio!"_ he cried loudly as he flung his wand arm in my direction. I threw myself onto the floor just as the red light jetted over the tabletop. A few people gasped in horror as the scene unfolded before them. It hadn't been surprising that Professor Carrow used an unforgivable curse on a student. But many of the students connected his use of the curse and his earlier rant.

"Pair up, kiddies," he smirked joyfully down at the class in front of him, "we're going to be learning how to use the Cruciatus Curse today."

Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle jumped out of their seats, grabbing a partner as they did so. Goyle took a hold of Neville's shirt threateningly without leaving his seat, as Neville was sitting behind him. Pansy made her way across the classroom and grabbed Padma's upper arm, hauling her to her feet before Padma could start to protest.

"This is completely insane!" I shrieked as I flung out my arm and wrapped it around my best friend's shoulders in an attempt to pull her back to safety. "You can't set students to fire off illegal curses at each other in a school!"

Amycus, with a bored expression, sent a jinx our way that quickly separated Padma from myself. As Pansy dragged her toward the other end of the classroom, she sent a terrified glance back at me.

"You are sick!" I yelled at Amycus. "You are completely and utterly-" But before I could finish my sentence, a hand closed around my mouth, effectively cutting off any sound from coming out of me. The scent was familiar, the feeling of his body pressed against mine sent tingles up my back.

I turned quickly to see Draco Malfoy glaring down at me.

"Thatta boy, Malfoy!" Amycus clapped his hands gleefully. "You take that little bitch and show her what really happens when you disobey the rules!"

My eyes widened in shock and I made a motion to move toward him, but Draco's strong hold on me kept me from moving an inch. I whipped around to face him quickly enough that he let up his hold in surprise.

"Get your hands off me, Malfoy," I spat rather viciously at him as other Slytherin members started grabbing students right and left. Crabbe had paired up with a frantic looking Seamus Finnigan. Goyle was firing curses at Neville, who had abandoned using his wand and was just focusing on avoiding the jets of light at all costs.

I made another motion to move toward Amycus, who was laughing at the ridiculous scene of Neville and Goyle before him, but Malfoy's hand shot out and grabbed my upper arm once again.

"You may not care about getting yourself killed," he murmured angrily as he pulled me toward a wall in the back corner of the room, "And trust me when I say, Amycus Carrow won't hesitate to do it. But I care about you getting killed. So it won't happen on my watch."

My resentment toward him and our argument a week ago started to chip away. I was floored by how quickly my heart betrayed me when I was around him- how quickly it started beating, how quickly shivers went up my back.

"Is that why you paired with me?" I asked him, toning down my fury. He must have noticed the change of emotion, as he slackened his hold on my arm.

"They were making bets in the common room last night on who would get to curse you first. Evidently you aren't very popular," Draco responded as we watched Padma stuff her wand into her pocket and launch herself at the taunting Slytherin girl. Pansy's eyes widened for a second before Padma's hand made contact with a sharp slap across her face.

I felt a momentary surge of pride for my best friend, who had always had a rather stunningly short circuit when it came to violence.

Professor Carrow pushed his way through the sea of students before pulling Padma and Pansy off each other. He turned to yell at Padma quickly, completely ignoring the fact that Pansy had a good hold on her hair.

"Imagine that," I replied dryly. Draco snorted in amusement before bumping my shoulder playfully. He opened and closed his mouth a few times in a way that I could tell something was on his mind.

"What's going on?" I asked him as Padma once again threw herself onto Pansy, tackling her to the floor. This time, Pansy had said something about her looking like a mountain troll.

"I just…I wanted to…I've missed you," he finally stuttered out. He was staring at the floor in embarrassment, shuffling his feet against the stones. I stared at him in shock. He had never said something like that to me before. Ever.

Before I could respond, Amycus had marched over to Padma and Pansy once again. He whipped out his wand and made a slashing movement that cracked like a whip through the air. The two girls were thrown apart, landing with dull thuds on the ground.

Pansy moaned as she clutched her knee, which had sprouted a few new cuts and bruises. Padma was seemingly fine other than scrapes on the palms of her hands.

"Crabbe, over here," Carrow snapped in frustration, pointing at the ground to his right. Crabbe blundered over with an expression of pure surprise on his face at being picked for a demonstration in a lesson. "Show Miss Parkinson and Miss Patil the proper way to curse your opponent."

Crabbe made to turn toward Seamus, who shrunk a little bit into the crowd across the room, but Amycus turned him back toward Padma.

"I think you have a perfect opponent right here."

Padma's eyes widened in fright as she looked up toward Crabbed from the ground. He hadn't even given her a chance to stand up before he was raising his wand at her, a sick look of pure satisfaction and joy on his face.

My adrenaline amped up at the sight of someone about to hurt my best friend and, without thinking, I tore away from Draco just as Crabbe started to take a deep breath. Sprinting across the classroom, I almost didn't hear the gasps of astonishment and fear when I collided with Crabbe at full speed.

I didn't completely knock him to the ground, but I had enough force to catch him off balance. He dropped his wand out of his hand, which clattered to the floor. I bounced off the large boy and landed on the floor next to his wand.

I smiled over to Padma, relieved that she was okay and smiling gratefully back over to me as well. Amycus stormed over in a fit of rage and grabbed the front of my robes forcefully. He hauled me to my feet and I almost expected him to dangle me a few inches off the ground in an effort to choke me.

I clutched at his stubby fingers, trying to pry them off my robes, but was unsuccessful. He glared down at me in anger.

"Detention," he spat in my face. I wiped the spit off my cheek dramatically as I glared back at him, refusing to let up on the eye contact. "With me an' my sister. Saturday night."

"I'd really rather not, thank you very much," I responded coolly.

I heard someone rush over and was slightly unsurprised to see Malfoy standing beside Amycus. He tried for a moment to let Amycus have Draco perform the detention, but the professor laughed harshly at him.

"You don' think I know 'bout the las' time?" he sneered up at the blonde boy. Draco shrank away quickly, despite the noticeable towering height he had over the professor. "I know you didn' give the girl no detention! I ain't stupid!"

"Actually…" I began, but was cut off by the death glare Draco sent me. Amycus withdrew his grasp of my robes as the bell signifying the end of lessons began.

"Saturday night," he said as the final word before whipping around and stalking away. His black robes flew out behind him, giving him the appearance of a short, fat winged creature. I sighed deeply as I reached down and helped Padma to her feet.

"I'm going to get my things," she said awkwardly as she peered between Draco and I. We were standing there staring at each other as she walked away, throwing glances over her shoulder as she went.

"You really do have a death wish," he said harshly. I winced at his tone, amazed, still, how much he affected my thoughts and actions. His glare seemed to pierce right through my heart, x-raying my soul. I shifted nervously on my feet.

"I do not," I replied, "But I will stand up for my friends when someone is going to hurt them." I paused before adding, "Unlike someone else I know." I cocked an eyebrow as I waited for his response. There were only a few people loitering in the back of the classroom, most of them newer students who hadn't witnessed a Natalie vs. Draco legendary fight before.

"You are unbelievable," he said in an awestruck voice, "Completely mental, might I add. Do I have to hack off someone's bloody head before I get any approval from you? I partnered up with you so you didn't have to worry about using the Cruciatus Curse as a jump rope for the past hour, then tried to stop you from getting yourself killed, THEN I tried for the second time to get you out of detention." By this time, I had an uncomfortable feeling of guilt nestled in my stomach. "You are…I don't even have any words to describe you right now."

I poked him in the chest, taking up my stance once again. I refused to let Draco Malfoy win in an argument. No matter how much I would resent it, no matter how much I cared for him- that would be going too far. I cursed momentarily at my pride.

"I'm brave," I told him, stamping my finger harder into his chest as I did so. He snorted with amusement, crossing his arms over his chest as he raised his eyebrows. "Don't give me that look. I am brave. I tackled Crabbe, for Merlin's sake. Or…tried to. He is a little on the heavy side, but that's not the point! The point is, I actually did something to avoid the scenario of my best friend getting hurt."

Draco had an expression of high amusement on his face. "Isn't that what I did for you? Only in a smarter, more efficient way?"

I opened and closed my mouth as I had no response to that. I turned on my heel and marched toward my book bag, hauling it off the floor and hitching it high onto my shoulder.

"Oh come on, Garcia." Draco was trying not to laugh at my reaction. "Don't act like that! I just want you to act more like a Slytherin! It's for your own bloody good you know!"

I pushed past the few students at the back of the room, mocking his words with exaggerated facial expressions. Padma pushed herself off the wall, where she was casually leaning, and joined me on my quest to get as far from the Defense room as possible.

"As much as I hate to admit it," she finally said after a moment's silence, "Because I think that Draco Malfoy is still the scum of the Earth. He did kind of have a point."

I rolled my eyes, stopping in my tracks to face her square on. "No, I saved you."

Padma snorted at those words. "Very humbly put, Natalie."

I brushed off her jibe, continuing on with my explanation. "I flew across the room. I might as well have been your knight in shining armor the way I tackled Crabbe to the ground and wrestled his wand from his hand in an attempt to save my lady love." I raised my hands high above my head, looking majestically up to the ceiling. Padma let out a genuine peel of laughter. I let my hands fall to my sides. "Too dramatic? Ah, well anyways. He used his influence as a death eater to act on his intentions. It's not the same thing."

Padma made a noise of disagreement, but then decided against speaking. It was wise of her, I thought, as I was already making my way down the hallway, trying to convince myself of what I had just said. Maybe it was the same thing, maybe it wasn't. Or maybe it was just Malfoy's own screwed up way of protecting the people he cared about.


	5. Chapter 5

**Awesome readers:  
>Keep up all the positive feedback! I love it. And you, of course!<br>To Hereliesdobbyafreeelf: I laughed so hard at your string of very connected reviews that seemed to be a line of conversations. It was a whole new brand of awesome. Love you!  
>Here is chapter 5 of Better Days Ahead!<strong>

**As always: read, review, and enjoy!**

I guess I was sort of hoping my time at Hogwarts would only get better. Boy, was I wrong. It only managed to get worse. The time I saved Padma to my pending detention went more quickly than I would have liked and I found myself actually nervous for a change.

It wasn't a good feeling.

I stomped up to lunch that Saturday morning, having missed breakfast due to sleeping in, without bothering to comb my hair or change out of my shorts and t-shirt. I got a few scandalized looks as I walked into the Great Hall.

"Oh, great! There you are. I've been looking for- why are you half naked?" Padma was eyeing me suspiciously as I scooped some tomato soup into a large bowl in front of me. I tucked my hair into a messy bun at the base of my neck before digging in.

"Because." I paused to swallow the hot soup, burning the back of my throat in the process. "I didn't feel like changing out of these clothes. And there is no one to impress. And it's ridiculously hot outside."

The last part was true though. For coming close to the end of September, it was unnaturally hot. There was no sign of summer making its departure just yet, which was fine and dandy with me.

Padma made a noise of disagreement as she set herself down on the bench next to me. I took another bite of my soup, marveling the creamy taste of it while I waited for her to start speaking. I could tell by the look on her face that something was on her mind, but she wasn't quite sure how to begin.

I cocked an eyebrow in her direction after a few more minutes of silence. She had scooped some soup into a bowl of her own, despite having had lunch earlier, and was stirring it in a wide, clockwise motion.

"Out with it, Padma," I sighed as I clapped my hands together, getting rid of the cracker residue that took up space on my fingers and palms. "I know you have something on your mind, so just tell me."

"You aren't going to skip this detention are you?" she said in a very rushed, quiet voice. I stared at her for a second before asking her to repeat it, but slower this time. She took a deep breath. "Are you planning on going to this detention tonight?"

"I was planning on it," I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering what she could possibly be thinking. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged, trying to appear indifferent to the situation at hand. "It's just…usually you have an aversion to rules of any form on top of being overly sarcastic to the point of frightening the younger students. You just haven't been acting like yourself lately, that's all. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have a plan brewing in that dark mind of yours."

I stared at my soup, now mimicking Padma's motions of clockwise stirring. I hadn't felt like myself much lately. In fact, I hadn't really felt like myself much since the death of Dumbledore back in June. It was a hard emotion to put my finger on, so I just met Padma's concerned gaze with a fake, but reassuring smile.

"Nothing is going on. I promise."

Truth was, I really wasn't sure of my place in the world anymore. Where did the troublemakers who have family with the dark lord, but friends with the Order? I had a hard time keeping the promise of staying positive to myself when there were crazy murderous death eaters on the loose and my relationship with Draco Malfoy was on the outs.

Padma smiled at me, clearly believing me and my fake smile. "Good I'm glad to hear it. Listen, I'm going to- uh oh." The smile on her face grew into a smirk as she glanced joyously to the other side of the Hall.

"What are you 'uh-oh'ing for? What is going-?" She didn't even have to answer my question, as when I glanced up from my tomato soup, I saw exactly what she was talking about. Cormac McLaggen had spotted me from across the Hall and had started to veer in my direction.

I was in his spotlight, as I had already made unfortunate eye contact with him, so I couldn't slide under the Slytherin table like I had anticipated doing in the first place. I groaned, setting down my spoon with a sharp clatter. Soup splattered from the bowl, dousing the table in creamy red.

"How is it," I muttered to Padma as we watched him strut over, "that muggleborns everywhere are being round up and sent to jail, but You-Know-Who is letting this guy walk freely around the Earth?"

"A severe lack of judgment," Padma murmured back, "A very severe lack of judgment."

"Natalie!" Cormac boasted loudly as he reached our table. The few students left sitting around us glared at Cormac before grabbing their things and leaving the table. I found myself incredibly jealous of them at that point in time. "How are you? How was your summer? I wrote to you. Did you see? Ah, even if you would have written back I was so busy I probably wouldn't have responded."

"Oh really?" Padma asked, batting her eyelashes in a puke-worthy flirtatious move. "And what were you doing over the summer that was so important?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. My best friend loved to wind up McLaggen. I would probably say it was a very embarrassingly amusing hobby of hers.

Cormac waved off Padma's question, as if it weren't worth his time answering. Though, we both knew he was going to answer it casually anyways. "Just the same old things, really. Worked with an auror over the summer and was able to catch a man that liked to use his potions set to blow up Muggle mailboxes. Did you know that the felon is your father's second cousin, Natalie? Thought you would find that interesting."

"So interesting I can barely stand it," I replied dryly. Padma managed to turn an amused snort into a hacking cough.

"I knew you would think that," Cormac smiled, rather proud of himself. "I've been trying to catch you since the beginning of the school year to talk to you, but I just haven't been able to! It's like you're disappearing right from under my nose." He leant forward and tapped the tip of my nose lightly.

I drew my wand out from the elastic band of my shorts so fast that he had barely moved his finger by the time I had it pointed at his chest. "If you touch me again, you will be breathing through a new hole in your head. Do you understand me?"

Cormac chuckled as he withdrew his hand from my face. "Just the Natalie I remember. I've got to get some quidditch practice in. Don't want to be rough around the edges when the professional teams come calling!" He waved at us while he backed away, a wide smile planted on his face.

My wand was still drawn, pointing in his general direction.

"Will you put that away you wand-wielding maniac?" Padma said as she pushed my wand arm under the table. "Don't need another detention added to the tab."

I grinned at her. The tab had been a running joke for the past few years, as usually my detention list got so extensive that Professor Snape gave up on adding new ones and simply just added hours to the current ones.

My record was 57 in the fourth year.

"Listen, I have to get going," Padma swung her bag over her shoulder. It made a dull thud against the back of her legs as the books slammed into her. "I'll be in the library if you need me. Don't kill anyone, okay?"

"I'll try to resist," I rolled my eyes at my best friend as she followed Cormac out of the Great Hall, disappearing around the corner in a flash. I sighed, turning back to my now-cold tomato soup. I decided it was probably a good time to head back and get dressed.

As I pushed myself up from the table, a very nervous-looking Neville Longbottom was standing near the Great Hall entrance, eyeing me anxiously. Ginny Weasley pushed him gently toward me. He turned to give her a frightened look before moving his feet slowly, but surely, toward me.

I crossed my arms over my chest consciously. If I had realized my fellow students would actually be making a conversation with me, I would have bothered to change my clothes. I also realized, with a jolt of surprise, that this had been the first time I had seen Neville Longbottom looking…well…nervous.

He usually had a cold look of determination fiercely plastered on his round face that it could melt steel. It was quite odd seeing him anxious, which was a complete turnaround then what I would have said six months ago.

"Hey, Natalie," he said quietly as he reached me. He cocked his head to the right, gesturing for me to follow him from the Hall. I obliged, more so curious as to what he had to say. "I haven't been able to talk to you since the train. How are things?"

I sent him a dark, meaningful look. He chuckled under his breath, though we both knew the circumstances weren't very funny. As we passed Ginny, she sent him a nod of satisfaction. The light streaming in from the windows threw Neville's face into a rough relief as he nodded back. The gouge mark from Alecto's spell a few weeks ago had healed, but badly. A jagged, thick scar spread from his cheek bone to his chin.

A shiver went up my spine as I remembered what I was going to be doing that night.

"I actually had something to ask you, Natalie," he went on nervously. The Great Hall was just out of earshot, the corridor in which we had ended up in was clear of people. He started to crack his knuckles, much like Crabbe and Goyle did when they were under pressure, but Neville's was much more anxious instead of threatening.

"What's that?" I prodded him to continue, as he had fallen into another lapse of silence. A cloud covered the sunlight outside, sending a dark shadow over us.

"A few years ago…we had a secret group with Harry called the DA," he started up with a deep breath. Now it seemed he was on a roll. "Well, I was thinking…actually, Luna and Ginny too...of starting it back up. Alecto and Amycus need to get out of here. It's dangerous with them around. Anyways, I saw what you did the other day. When you threw yourself on top of Crabbe to protect Padma."

I squirmed uncomfortably. That day was the reason I was in this predicament, though I didn't blame Padma whatsoever. And I probably would do it again given the opportunity.

"Anyways," he continued awkwardly. He must have noticed my discomfort. "I was wondering if you wanted to be a part of it. We wouldn't ever consider inviting a Slytherin in- Ginny initially thought it was a bad idea. But I know you're different than the others. I want you to be a part of our team."

My immediate reaction was to scream out 'YES' and give him a bone-crushing hug around the neck. A rouge, secret group aimed at getting rid of the Carrows was something I was very interested in. I stopped myself short when I thought of everything else that was going on. Draco Malfoy HAD gone above and beyond expectations a few times already (and that wasn't saying much) to keep me from getting detention. Would this be a poor way of paying him back?

Vanessa hadn't exactly put 'joining a secret group aimed at fighting the dark side' on my list of things I wasn't allowed to do at Hogwarts this year, but she had worked really hard to ensure our families safety. Would she be disappointed in my actions if I joined?

"I…Let me think about it," I told Neville. He visibly deflated, as if discouraged by my answer. "No, don't be upset. And I won't tell anyone. I just…I have a lot of things going on right now. It's not a definite no, but let me get back to you."

Neville seemed a little more cheerful at my explanation. "Thanks, Natalie. I appreciate you thinking about it. Let me know anytime, you're always welcome."

I offered up a small smile as he left the corridor, probably in search of Ginny. I was surprised to find that I was actually disappointed in my grown-up analysis of his request. I wanted to be a part of this group, but I knew the consequences if we were caught. And I knew they wouldn't bode well for me or for my family.

I sighed as I made my way back to the Slytherin common room. I was getting tired of the scandalized stares at my outfit, so getting properly dressed was probably the best way to go at this point.

As the rest of the week flew by, I shouldn't have been so surprised that Saturday flew by so quickly as well. It always happened that when you weren't looking forward to something, it always came quicker. I considered creating a doppelganger of myself to send to Alecto Carrow this evening, until Padma informed me that doppelgangers are dark magic and it would probably do more harm than good.

Sighing, I hitched my bag over my shoulder and stood up from our table in the far corner of the library. Many students were spending more and more time in here, as we all thought Alecto and Amycus had no idea what a library was, therefore was unlikely to step foot in there looking for someone. That and Madam Pince was a nasty woman who even the darkest of wizards feared.

At least, I know that I had a slight aversion for her.

"Now, don't do anything stupid," Padma was hissing at me as I made to leave, "and just because your sister didn't put 'don't hex the teachers' on that list doesn't mean you should do it!"

I grinned at her, despite the nauseous feeling that had taken up residence in my stomach. "Don't worry about me," I said, ruffling her black hair, "I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early at breakfast. Very much alive."

She scoffed at me as I turned to exit the library. I knew she was going to worry tonight and I couldn't blame her. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. It couldn't be any worse than detentions with Umbridge, right?

The warm, summer breeze lofted into the corridors through the open windows and I breathed in the mossy, outdoor smell. It gave me some positive energy as I walked toward Alecto's office.

I paused outside her office door trying to figure out how I had gotten here so quickly. I racked my brain, but the thoughts of my years at Hogwarts consumed my mind. The only thing I came up with was that my thoughts and my feet weren't connected for the last few minutes.

Before I could muster up the courage to bang on the door, it flew open quickly, hitting the stone wall with a snap. I jumped in shock as I took in the short, beefy woman that was crowding the door way. The glare on her face made her eyes appear even deeper set into her face, giving her more of a pig-like appearance than before.

"You're late," she said in a demanding voice as she stepped aside to let me through. I slunk in, careful not to touch her in case her 'I love the dark lord' disease was contagious. The room was clear of any desks or chairs. There was a thick chain with wrist cuffs coiled in a corner. No decorations or pictures of any kind littered the room.

"Where is the other Professor Carrow?" I asked as I dropped my book bag to the floor.

The door snapped shut. I felt as if I had just gotten locked into Azkaban with a horde of dementors.

"Couldn't make it. So you're the one causin' all the trouble in my brother's classroom," she said, stalking around me in a wide circle. I followed her motions with my eyes. My feet were at the ready in case I needed to leap out of the way. "You're the stupid mudblood lover."

I straightened up and looked her square in the eye at these words. "You're right. I am the stupid mudblood lover."

She let out a roar of anger and thrust her wand at me. A dark jet of light emitted from the tip, grazing me across the arm as I fell to the side. I let out a hiss of pain as I checked out the cut. Blood dribbled down my arm, creating tiny rivers of red.

"That 'urt didn' it?" she grinned manically at me. My hiss of pain must have been louder than I wanted it to be. "I can make it 'urt more, little girl. I can make you suffer." She raised her wand again, but this time I was ready. Just as another jet out light poured from her wand, I rolled to my left quickly. The jinx hit the stone floor exactly where I had been a few seconds previously. It ricocheted off and hit the ceiling, showering us both with dust.

"You can' run forever," she teased, taking a step toward me. "You can' keep your act up. You'll get too tired."

I scrambled to my feet, using a jagged stone on the wall to help pull myself up. My hurt arm was throbbing painfully. I thought I twisted my ankle when I rolled to avoid the last one. I glared up at Alecto, who was contemplating me with sickening happiness.

"This is going to be easier than I thought." She raised her wand once again, when I realized that I had nowhere to go. I had cornered myself against two stone walls. I shut my eyes tight as she shouted the one word I feared I was going to hear that night. "_Crucio_!"

How I managed to not let out a scream of pain, I don't even know. The green light hit me in the stomach with such force that I hit the middle of my back on the jagged stone that had helped me up earlier. The burning sensation where the curse hit spread rapidly through my veins like they were on fire, piercing my every muscle, bone, and nerve like tiny, sharp knives.

I heard her laugh loudly as I rose into the air, writhing in pain, unable to control my body movements. The cut I had received on my arm went numb as if my body couldn't handle much else. Just like that, however, it was over.

I came crashing to the ground, hitting my side on the thick chain. I groaned in pain, my body too tired to even lift my head to see where Alecto was.

"'Ow was that, little girl?" she said in a sing-song voice. From the distance between us, I realized I must have been thrown across the room as she lifted the spell. "Ready for another round?"

I took a deep breath, fighting off the throbbing pain in my body. "Bring it on."

She chuckled at my resistance and I was pretty sure she was shaking her head at my stupidity. "If you wish."

I didn't even hear her utter the curse this time as it hit me with full force in the chest. The all too familiar feeling of pain shot up my limbs, pulsating through every fiber of my being. I took another deep breath as it was lifted, panting like a dog without water.

I felt like a rag doll that had been thrown around by a small child. I heard her heavy footsteps cross the room. She crouched down next to me, her thick, black boots only a few inches from my face as she glared down at me.

"I hope you know now not to speak up in class," she said as she wrapped a hand under my arm and pulled me to my feet. I staggered at her swiftness as she half-dragged me to the door and threw me out into the corridor. My head cracked against the stone as I fell. She didn't bother to check if I was okay as she tossed my book bag onto the floor next to me and slammed her office door behind her.

"Natalie! Merlin, are you okay?"

I groaned as I recognized the voice, though I'm not sure if the groan was from pain or from seeing Draco Malfoy crouch over me. He lifted up my head, taking care not to grip the goose egg that had risen. He touched it gently, concern shadowing over his eyes.

"What happened in there? I've been waiting out here. I thought it was going to be longer."

I gestured for him to help me to my feet, which he did. I stumbled sideways, throwing my arms around his neck to catch my balance. He seemed to be expecting it, as he wrapped an arm around my waist and led me to the nearest windowsill.

The breeze outside was still warm and I closed my eyes as it engulfed me. The initial shooting pain seemed to ebb away slowly.

"Nat, what happened?" Draco said again, staring at me. His forehead was wrinkled, his brows drawn together as if he were really interested.

"Like you would want to know," I snapped at him, withdrawing my hands from around his neck. "This is your entire fault. Everything is your fault."

His eyes grew tired as he pressed a palm to his forehead and rubbed it in a circular motion. It was evident that he was trying to keep his temper in check. I grew angry at this weakness, wanting to rear the dragon within him. That would make me feel better. Seeing him upset would certainly end my own physical pain.

"Your mouth and backtalk is not my fault," he finally said through steady breaths. "And I'm not going to fight with you. You're tired and hurt. And you need to get some sleep."

I opened my mouth to retort nastily, but he held up his hand to silence me.

"I don't care what you have to say, honestly. You can blame me all you want for Dumbledore's death and these death eaters in the castle. Hell, you can blame me for Potter running away like a scared little boy. But you getting in trouble after I warned you to watch your mouth is not my fault. I told you to act like a Slytherin. And what do you do?"

He gestured fully at my head, the cut on my arm, and my overall tired appearance.

"I'm going to see Padma and I'm going to spend the night in the Ravenclaw common room." I said through bared teeth. The effort to talk was even painful. "And I'm going to get as far away from you as I possibly can."

Draco chuckled as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair, ruffling it in a messy way that I knew only he could pull off. It made me being mad at him even harder. "No, I'm sorry, but you're not."

"Excuse me?" I said, leaning toward him as if I didn't hear him the first time. "You can't tell me what to do!"

He smirked and leaned toward me, so our faces were only a few inches from each other. "I'm going to bring you to the common room, even if I have to do it with you kicking and screaming. You're going to get some rest and then see how you're feeling in the morning."

I scoffed at him, laughing humorlessly as he tried to boss me around. In that second, though, he did something incredibly unexpected. He reached out his hand and wrapped it around the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him. My lips crashed onto his. The familiar feeling of pleasure at his touch spread through me, warming up my body and pushing away all the pain temporarily.

He wrapped his other hand around my waist, pulling me closer to him before removing the hand quickly. I kissed him back fiercely, realizing in the depths of my soul what I had been so angry about. It hadn't been because of his betrayal during the werewolf's attack in June, it hadn't been because of Dumbledore's death. It hadn't even been because of the crazy death eaters that were waltzing through the castle like they owned the place.

No, it was because I missed him. I missed him so much that it hurt. I missed the old times we had together- wandering around the castle until the brink of daylight, laughing, talking, joking with each other. The secret winks he sent me after a fake public fight. The lazy way his face broke into a smirk, then a smile after I said something stupid.

He broke my heart that night in June. And that's why I was so mad at him.

He pulled away much too quickly from my liking, setting his forehead onto mine.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he moved his hand from my neck.

"What for?" I whispered back. He shifted uncomfortably on the windowsill. I was afraid that he was sorry for the kiss.

"For this," he responded as he put the tip of his wand to my temple. A rush of anger ran through me right before I blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry about the lack of updating lately. School just started back up and, if you are a college student, you will know that the first week is always the most chaotic. So bare with me, because I'm updating as fast as I can!**

**On another note: Chapter 6!  
>You guys rock! Keep up the reviews. They all make my day!<strong>

**As always: read, review, and enjoy!**

I awoke the morning following my detention with a throbbing head. I groped at the back of it, gently prodding the goose egg that had gotten larger over night. I groaned as I felt the squishiness of it and let my head fall back onto the pillow.

Not a good idea, since I landed right back on the sore spot.

I clutched at the silk sheets, dragging them over my head as a light poured into my eyes. I paused, my heart skipping a beat when I realized that I didn't sleep with silk sheets. Nor did I even own silk sheets. I bolted into a sitting position, ignoring the stabbing throb on my head.

The bed I was in had very obviously been slept in on the other side. The black sheets were entangled around my legs. The thick comforter appeared to have been kicked to the end of the bed. I looked around the room in a daze, trying to figure out exactly where I was.

The room itself was enclosed in black brick with lanterns adorning the walls, giving off an eerie green glow, despite the fact that the clock to my right read ten in the morning. A window diagonally to my right was clearly underwater, as seaweed danced in the current and fish darted through the murky waters.

The rest of the room was very plainly decorated, I noted. There were no personal effects of any kind. The clothes were folded neatly in the chest at the end of the bed. As I swept my eyes across the room, a large crest in front of me caught my attention.

I threw the sheets off my legs and padded barefoot over to it. It was large, covering a section of the wall almost from ceiling to floor. A large green H was present against the stark black background. A green and silver snake wound its way up one side of the H, its head sticking out just above the end of the line.

I began to realize what room I was in and why I had never been in it before. It must have been the head boy's room. Draco Malfoy's room.

As if on cue, a door to my left swung open and the tall, blonde boy slunk in with a few pieces of toast sitting on top of a napkin in his hand. He looked surprised to see me awake.

And that's when the events of the night before hit me. Being thrown out of Alecto's office, Draco helping me to the windowsill, Draco kissing me, Draco knocking me out. I rushed over to him, ignoring the shooting pain it caused in my arm and head, and pushed him hard in the chest.

He staggered for a moment, but only out of shock. I highly doubt he would have even budged if the shove were expected.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked as he regained his balance, glaring at me. He placed the toast on the end of the bed. "I'm just bringing you some food!"

I went to shove him again, but he grabbed my wrists and held them above my head. "You knocked me out last night! You used a kiss to sneak your wand and knock me out!"

He scoffed, waving away my concern easily. "It was for your own damn good. Merlin knows you would have gone after Alecto and Snape despite being so badly hurt." He paused to take a bite of one of the pieces of toast and setting it back down on the bed. "And you're welcome, by the way, for taking care of you last night. You are not as light as you appear. Carrying you down three flights of stairs was no easy task."

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, but not because he had insulted my weight. "You really did that?"

He rolled his eyes, hitching up a sneer onto his face. "How do you think you ended up here? The giant squid tossed you through that window?"

There was an awkward pause as we looked at each other. Draco took another bite of toast. I moved my gaze from his face down to the cold, stone floor underneath my feet. It was smooth, much unlike the rest of the castle where random stones stuck up as if they wanted to trip the inhabitants of the school.

"What do you mean I would have gone after Snape?" I asked with narrowed eyes. He shifted guiltily. It was evident that he knew something- something that I was in the shadows on. "I understand Alecto, because that chick is crazy. What about Snape though?"

Draco sighed, setting down the toast once again onto the end of the bed. "I thought you knew. Mudblood lovers Weasley, Loony Lovegood, and Longbottom were caught trying to steal from Snape's office. That's why Alecto threw you out last night."

I felt the blood drain from my face as I stumbled over to the edge of the bed. Leaning on a wooden post that jutted off the left corner, I looked back into Malfoy's steely gray eyes. "What happened to them?" If I got a detention for talking back to a professor…I could only imagine what they would get for trying to steal from the headmaster's office.

Malfoy shrugged. "Mandatory all-school meeting in the Great Hall at one this afternoon. I'm sure the blood traitors will get what they deserve then."

Anger boiled inside of me. I felt the heat rise to my paled face, flushing my cheeks with red. How could he talk about his fellow students like that? How did he even have the nerve to say those things when it was his entire fault in the first place?

And then it hit me square in the chest, breaking my heart once more. I had told myself time and time again that he wouldn't change. He was raised a death eater, he is a death eater, and he would die a death eater.

I pushed off the wooden post that I had been leaning on and shoved past him. He wrinkled his forehead in confusion as he turned to watch me stomp out of his room.

"Natalie…what?"

I paused at the door, my hand resting on the fancy, metal knob. Sighing deeply, I turned my head to look at him. "I'm sorry Draco. I'm sorry that you and I happened. But most of all, I'm sorry that I let you and me happen. What you support, I can't be a part of. I wasn't raised like you. I don't have the hate in my heart that you do." I shook my head slowly, trying to blink past the tears as I pulled open the door forcefully and stumbled over the threshold.

The sunlight poured into the hallway, warming up the stone floor where it hit through the windows. It was a bit chillier than the day before. Maybe autumn had finally come after all. I padded through the hallways, refusing to let my heartbroken tears fall onto my cheeks.

The hardest part was letting go, but I knew it was time. Draco was on one side of the river, my friends were on the other side of the river, and I was stuck in the middle over a rickety bridge. I needed to make a decision. I had always known that, deep down, I wasn't going to be able to keep both in my life.

I made my way toward the library, where I knew Padma would be cooped up studying for our next Transfiguration exam. I was right, as I saw her dark, braided hair at a nearby table as I entered. I threw myself down into a chair next to her. She hadn't been expecting it, as she jumped in her chair.

"Merlin, Natalie," she hissed in a whispered voice at me, "A little notice would have been nice!" She eyed Madam Pince nervously, but the hawk-like woman didn't seem to hear Padma. She turned back to me, glaring. "And what have you been up to? I thought you were going to be meeting me for breakfast! You had me worried sick."

I chastised myself. I had completely forgotten about the promise I had made to my best friend about meeting her for breakfast. I leaned my head toward her, filling her in quickly on the horrors of detention, seeing Draco, Draco making me pass out, and my final words to him as I exited his dorm just a few minutes previously.

"So let me get this straight." She set down her quill before folding her hands on the table and leaning toward me. "You slept in Draco Malfoy's dormitory? Do you know how many girls would kill you over that chance?"

I sighed. "That would be the only thing you got out of that entire story."

Padma shrugged. "I'm a teenage girl. Can't blame me for the number of hormones." I grinned at her comment. I loved my best friend. Her casual humor always put a smile on my face. Her return smile faded a little bit. "Did you hear about Ginny, Luna, and Neville?"

I nodded my head. "Draco told me before I left. Do you know what's going to happen to them?"

She shook her head, a painful grimace plastered on her tanned face. "I don't think I even want to know. It's going to be horrifying." We sat in silence, staring at the table. It would be horrifying if they decided to do the detention in front of the entire school, which I wouldn't put past the Carrow siblings.

"You know, this wouldn't be happening if Dumbledore were still alive." It was a simple statement, said as Padma quietly picked up her quill and began writing her definitions for our latest charms. I realized she was right though. It was silly to think that it hadn't been brought up before.

None of this WOULD be happening if Dumbledore were still alive. Snape would still be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Harry Potter wouldn't be in hiding, we wouldn't be tortured by famed death eaters during detentions, muggleborns wouldn't be rounded up like cattle, and Draco Malfoy would still be strutting around the school without this weird pseudo caring personality.

I pondered this for the next few hours as Padma continued to write. The scratching noise of her quill was oddly relaxing. She urged me a few times to start studying, but I just brushed her off. Excelling on the next Transfiguration exam was not on the top of my priority list.

At quarter to one, Padma packed up her things and we made our way down to the Great Hall. A flock of third years were nervously lining one of the corridors, evidently waiting for a few more people to enter before they went into the hall themselves.

I pushed past them, cockiness flooding my step. The four house tables were moved toward the walls, much like they had been during the Yule Ball. I had a distinct feeling that we weren't going to enjoy the playing of the Weird Sisters at this moment in time, though.

I had to hide a smirk as Alecto and Amycus eyed me from across the Hall. My internal smugness disappeared almost instantly as I saw three of my fellow students standing where the High Table usually is, downcast expressions on their faces.

Neville was, by far, the worst off. A large black eye adorned the right side of his face. The inflammation was starting to spread down the cheek opposite of the one with the large gash. Ginny had a small cut on her forehead that was dribbling blood. Luna was staring at the ceiling in more of a daze that usual.

"You don't think they're going to do what I think they're going to do, do you?" Padma whispered as she caught up with me. I took a moment to try and understand her question before shrugging. More and more students were beginning to file in now, most of them stood as far from the front of the Hall as they could.

"Students." Snape's loud voice snapped over our heads. Whispered conversations ceased immediately. The silence was deafening. "As many of you are aware, we have a new system in place for you who violate the rules and regulations of this school." He paused to sweep his eyes across the Hall. I felt anger rise up inside me as Amycus and Alecto eyed each other gleefully. "Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, and Mr. Longbottom are in a direct, and severe, violation of a number of set rules."

"And we teachers like to set examples for our little kiddies," Amycus grinned manically down at the swarm of students before him. He shut his mouth and took a step backward as Snape narrowed his eyes at the outburst. Evidently Snape was still in charge, despite Amycus and Alecto's self-employed habits.

I turned my gaze from the front of the Hall as Snape began droning on once again. A few seventh years were shifting nervously from foot to foot. A group of fourth year Slytherins was flicking absentmindedly through a magazine, as if the scene in front of them wasn't happening. First and second years were scattered through the Hall with mixed looks of fear and curiosity stamped on their little faces.

Padma elbowed me in the side when she noticed my lack of attentiveness on Snape. "You just had a detention last night! Will you pay attention?" she hissed. I snapped my gaze back to the three just in time to see Alecto and Amycus shift toward the crowd.

"Pansy Parkinson," Alecto barked from the edge of the platform. "Vincent Crabbe. Gregory Goyle."

The three Slytherins blundered up the steps. Crabbe and Goyle didn't even bother hiding their excitement at being called to the front of a school assembly. Pansy tried her best to hide the smirk forming on her face, but the smug pep in her step was very noticeable.

"Wands out," Alecto began as the three Slytherins stood across from Ginny, Luna, and Neville. Ginny's eyes widened as Crabbe raised his wand and pointed it directly at her chest. She made a move as if she were going to duck and roll out of the way, but she seemed to have a curse set on her. "We gonna show everyone 'ere exactly what 'appens when you disobey the rules." The professor smiled humorlessly at the six students in front of her. "Now."

As if they were working with the same hand, the three Slytherins took collective breaths before shouting "_Crucio_!" The result was awful, as the charm holding Neville, Ginny, and Luna in place didn't let up, and the three got the full effect of each curse. Ginny and Luna each let out a high-pitched scream that resounded through the Hall. Neville yelled out again and again and again as the curse became stronger as it was held on him. It seemed to crawl directly under my skin, sending shivers of pain up my spine. It was only last night that I first experienced my own Cruciatus Curse.

Padma grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard before pressing her forehead in my shoulder. Through the painful shouts and screams of the three on the platform, I could hear her quiet sobs muffled into my robes. Many of the students were having a hard time watching the scene before them. The group of fourth year girls had abandoned their magazine as they looked in horror up at the tortured students. The magazine lay haphazardly on the floor.

I shut my eyes tight as waves started to move through Ginny's body. I could only imagine that as the visual of the feeling that every bone in your body was breaking at the same time.

"Enough."

I peeked through my eyelids. Pansy had lowered her wand, though was smirking down at Luna, who had wrapped her arms around her chest in self protection. Crabbe and Goyle both had their wands still pointed at chest height, evidently ready if Alecto gave the word for them to begin again.

I was surprised to see that it wasn't Snape, Amycus, or Alecto that had shouted out though. Looking curiously around the room, I found the source of the voice. Professor McGonagall had entered the Hall, nostrils flared and her robes streaming out from behind her. She had drawn her wand and was pointing it toward Alecto, who had moved in front of the three torturers on the platform.

"That is enough!" she said sternly. Her mouth was barely visible in the tight line she pulled it into. She whipped her wand in a quick circle, effectively sending Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy's wands flying across the Hall. A few Slytherin students scrambled to pick them up off the stone floor.

"And I thought I saw Professor McGonagall mad when I forgot to do my homework for two weeks straight back in the fifth year," I whispered to Padma. She offered up a small smile, but, in the current circumstances, I was slightly taken aback to see one at all.

"Students, back to your dormitories," she said over the heads of a group of terrified first years. Many people didn't even bother to see what Professor Snape was going to say about this lapse of structure, as they hightailed it out of the Great Hall as fast as their legs could carry them. "And you!" She started to make her way up to the platform, pausing every few feet or so to let a group of students pass her.

Padma grabbed onto my arm and tried to drag me from Hall, but I stalled a moment and pulled my arm from her grasp. "Hold on a moment!" I turned on my heel and marched toward the platform, where Ginny, Neville, and Luna were slowly standing up with the help of a few Gryffindor members.

After seeing this entire debacle play out, I realized that being a hero didn't mean you had to be Harry Potter. It just meant standing up for what you believe in and doing something about it. I remembered Neville's determined expression as we sat in Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts, how he appeared so sure of himself despite the odds being against him. How he stood up for what he believed in. He had given so many students hope the last few weeks.

And I wanted to be a part of that.

Of course, the rebellious factor was playing in quite heavily as well.

"Neville!"

Despite his tired and painful look about him, he had enough energy to summon a look of curiosity on his face. I grabbed each side of his head and pulled it toward my lips.

"I'm in. I want to be a part of the DA," I whispered quickly before Alecto and Amycus could notice us talking. "Give me the details later."

With that, I let go of his head and hopped off the platform, ignoring the stabbing glares of Draco Malfoy as I pushed by him on my way out the double doors.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hopefully starting to get back onto a regular updating schedule!  
>Thank you so much for your patience. It really helps to know that you are all so supportive through my crazy updating!<strong>

**Anyways, here is chapter 7! I hope you loooove it!  
>As always: Read, review and enjoy!<strong>

"Are you kidding me?" Padma hissed as I peeked around a corner on the seventh floor. The hall was clear, sans a few paintings that I know would just love to snitch on us at the first sign of the Carrows walking through. "Did you really have to drag me to this?"

I rolled my eyes at my best friend as we slunk around the corner, making sure to duck and cover whenever we encountered a rather touchy portrait. She wasn't very happy that I pulled her from the safe surroundings of her common room and half-carried her through the halls. Actually, she was probably more so upset that I was forcing her to come to an illegal meeting aimed at getting rid of the Carrows. Or something like that.

"We would be so dead if we got caught," she groaned as we tucked behind a suit of armor for a moment as one of the paintings began to shift in its sleep. "And I do mean that literally. Amycus or Alecto would probably murder us on the spot."

"Shhh," I chuckled out quietly as I peeked at the portrait. The inhabitant, a nasty old man with a rather impressive moustache, had fallen back into a deep slumber. His chest rose and fell with the snores that emitted from his lips. "We aren't going to get caught if you don't make any noise. Look, there's the door."

A small, wooden door had appeared in the wall where Michael Corner and Ernie Macmillian had just trotted in front of. They glanced around the corridor for a moment before pulling on the large, metal knob and disappeared into the room.

"Quick! Before it goes away!" I yelped louder than I should have as I leapt out from behind the suit of armor and caught the door just as it started to disintegrate back into the wall. I gestured impatiently toward Padma, who eyed the old man nervously before slinking out from the alcove.

"I've decided how I'm going to die," she sighed as she walked past me. I held the door wide open for her to enter, making sure to shut it securely behind me as a precaution. "It's going to be in the Daily Prophet. 'Padma Patil dies at best friend's hand. Natalie Garcia forced Patil, only 17 at time of death, to attend an illegal meeting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy'."

"Actually," a voice behind us piped up. We spun around, hands over our chests out of fright as we caught the sight of Luna Lovegood shutting the wooden door as she came into the room. "The Daily Prophet really isn't very reliable." She dug in her bag for a moment before pulling out a rolled-up magazine. "The Quibbler, on the other hand, is. That's who you would want to report your death to."

I snorted, amused. "The Quibbler?" I had picked up The Quibbler and read it once back in the fifth year when they printed an interview of Harry Potter in it. And I really only read it because Umbridge forbade us from doing so. "That magazine is ridiculous."

Luna, who either hadn't heard what I said about her father's magazine or chose to ignore it, unrolled it and flashed the cover toward us. A large, smiling photograph of Harry Potter was plastered on the front. Bold, black letters that read 'Are We Unforgivable for Not Reading Unforgivable Number One's Story? Full interview inside' sat just to the right of the picture. I gaped at it for a moment, unsure of what was sitting in front of me.

"Is that for real?" Padma finally asked as she snatched the issue from Luna's hands. She skimmed through it quickly, trying to find the page that the story began on. Once it was located, she was immediately immersed.

"Daddy just printed it yesterday," she beamed as she took the publication back from Padma. Padma made a noise of contempt as it left her hands. "Granted, it's the same interview from a few years back, but we still think it's going to be effective all the same. It's funny…you would think people would be more interested in the gnome infestation." She smiled widely again before stuffing magazine back into her book bag and prancing away toward the other end of the room.

"That can't be real," I said to my best friend as we slowly made our way toward the gathered group near the fireplace. "The death eaters would be all over that."

Padma was saved from a response as Neville broke away from the group and climbed onto a small platform-like box that appeared in front of the fireplace. The room quieted immediately, except Seamus Finnigan who said, "-swore she saw a banshee the other day!" quite loudly before his neighbor elbowed him hard in the ribs before gesturing toward Neville.

"Thanks Michael," Neville started as he lifted his head to face the crowd. It seemed his previous determined demeanor fell a bit at the sight of the large mass of students in front of him. He gulped loudly before continuing. "I just…uh…I just wanted to th-thank everyone for coming. It-It really means a lot that you're here to t-take a stand in this war." He cleared his throat, sounding much surer of himself as he began to speak again. "If we are going to have a fighting chance at this, we need to stick together-"

"Here, here!" someone near the front cheered. There was scattered clapping accompanied by a few whoops of agreement.

Neville became visibly shy once again at the sudden outbreak of noise. "I-I think it's best for us if w-we partner up and start at the m-most important. Dueling. M-Maybe we can pick s-someone we don't r-really know that well?"

There was an awkward silence around the room as everyone stared at each other. As much as we all wanted to have a part in abolishing this war, making new friends in the process wasn't exactly on the top of the priority list. Neville's face fell as the seconds wore on without people moving.

"Well," Seamus Finnigan said as he clapped his hands loudly. "I call the only Slytherin in the room. Garcia? You're with me."

The rest of the room broke out in laughter as he made his way over to me. Seamus's bravery in picking a new partner must have set off a chain reaction, as students began pairing up with students from other houses. Handshakes and introductions rang around the room for a few moments as everyone got acquainted.

"Seamus Finnigan. Irish. Gryffindor." Seamus bowed humorously low as he said it. I laughed aloud as I replied with a rather shaky curtsey. "Natalie Garcia. Spanish. Slytherin."

"Now, everyone." Neville climbed onto his platform once again. He looked notably happier since the partnering went the way he planned. "We're going to start with some simple jinxes and charms. Nothing illegal or harmful." He lifted his wand as if to demonstrate, but quickly decided against it. I thought it was wise of him. He may have taken on the hopeful mentality of Harry Potter, but that didn't mean his wand work had gotten any better.

"Ready, partner?" Seamus grinned as he turned to face me. I grinned back at him quickly. It was nice to have something to distract myself from the breaking off of Draco Malfoy. Padma said I needed to put my priorities in line anyways.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" I retorted. Dueling wasn't exactly my cup of tea, as I quickly found out from the battle back in June. Duck and cover was more so around my realm of expertise.

I was pretty knowledgeable at the art of excuse-making; therefore I never had to participate when Padma dragged me to the dueling club back in the second year or when Professor Moody put the Imperius curse on us in the fourth year. Or anything between that point to now for that matter. I never understood why we couldn't just sit around and paint or eat pizza. Seriously, no girl wants to run around a classroom dodging blows from a crazed he-wizard with bad aim.

"I'll mop up the floor with you!" I heard Padma shout from across the room. She had paired with Michael Corner, who she was notoriously competitive with in the first place. If either of them saw the other ahead of them on the stairs, they'd have to rush down the stairs in front of whatever party had the advantage, causing said party to rush ahead as well, at which point a time-warped marathon ensued. And Merlin forbid they pass each other on the way into the Great Hall. It happened just last week.

Steak and Kidney Pie _everywhere_.

I glanced over the small expanse of space between Seamus and me. He had somehow just set the edge of his jacket on fire and was vigorously waving his wand to try and put it out. Okay, so maybe I wasn't in any IMMEDIATE danger of being dismembered or otherwise.

"Partners, ready!" Neville shouted over the commotion. I pondered his statement for a moment as Seamus finally put out the fire on his sleeve, much to the help of Ginny Weasley who blasted him with a jet of water. It probably wasn't too safe to just set a group of untrained wizards to duel each other, but what did I know.

"So…are you going to attack me?" Seamus said as he set himself into the standard dueling position. He looked a little uncomfortable as jinxes and charms shot off around us. Laughter peeled through the room as Ernie Macmillian was hit with a jinx that made him dance the ballet.

"No, it's only polite that I let you go first. Little old me is having a hard time dredging up any form of enthusiasm for this." He looked a little uncomfortable as he raised his wand, so I spread my arms. "I won't tell anyone you couldn't beat a girl."

His look of discomfort turned into an immediate smirk. The look on his face reminded me painfully of Draco whenever I said something challenging. A glaring stab of irritation flooded me as I shook the thought of him from my head. It had been a month since our falling out. A month of upset stares and longing looks.

I was supposed to be forgetting about him. I was forgetting about him. Oh who was I kidding? It would take me awhile to forget about him.

"Expelli-"

"Protego!" I shot back, creating the defensive barrier that automatically deflected Seamus's spell. He looked put off for a moment, but hitched the grin back onto his face.

"Alright, playing hard to get I see." He lifted his wand once again and twisted his wrist forcefully toward me.

Oh for the love of- "Are you joking with meeeiiiiiiahhhhhh!" I threw myself to the floor just in time to stop Seamus's homemade fireball from connecting with my face. I groped at the back of my head, groaning when I felt the tip of my ponytail singeing. "What in the name of all that is unholy was THAT?" I picked myself up from the ground, ignoring the laughing students around me as they pointed at my disheveled appearance.

"Maybe we shouldn't have started with dueling right away," Ginny said slowly as the spotlight on me grew. She sent a meaningful look over to Neville, who turned bright red and turned away.

"Sorry 'bout that," Seamus said as he waltzed over to me, grabbed my forearm, and jerked me up off the floor. "Those things just happen around me. Don't really know why."

"You don't say," I said dryly, brushing the dust off the front of my shirt. An idea hit me, effectively cutting off my cleaning up motions. "Wait…you have an odd attraction to fire and explosions."

Seamus cocked an eyebrow. "Well, I'd like to say it has an odd attraction to me. But, okay. What are you thinking?"

A smirk grew on my face, mimicking the one he was currently wearing. "I'm thinking we use my witty one-liners and your talent for harvesting fire and combine them. In a Slytherin-Gryffindor-we're-going-to-work-together-toward-the-greater-good-of-the-school sort of way, of course."

Seamus nodded excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "Alright, what's the plan?"

"Why is it always me?" Padma groaned the next night as we snuck through the empty corridors. The sharp, November breeze wafted in through the glass-less windows, creating drafts that seemed to chill us to the core. "Why can't I have a normal best friend with a normal mind that has a normal thought process?"

"And what fun would that be?" I teased Padma, sticking my tongue out at her jokingly. She looked as if she wanted nothing better than to grab a hold of it and pull it straight from my mouth.

"Coast is clear." Seamus sprinted in a crouched position across the courtyard to our left, making sure to hide under the protection of a large statue. Just in case the Carrows were prowling the halls that night. He swung his book bag off his shoulder, taking care to place it gently on the stone ground.

"It's now or never," I grinned at Padma as I followed suit after Seamus. I ducked under the large gargoyle's wing as Seamus began to unpack the bag. Long, cylinder tubes came out of the bag, one after the other. I grew antsy as Seamus slowly pulled each one out, being careful to not jostle them together.

I felt a short gust of wind on my back as Padma knelt down beside me, looking utterly bemused at the prospect of our plan.

"Are we sure this is going to work?" she hissed as Seamus and I started setting the tubes upright by staking them into the hard ground between each stone. "I mean, are we really sure this is going to be at all effective? I don't think-"

Seamus cut her off quickly by throwing a hand over her mouth. She appeared surprised for a moment before the steady sound of footsteps reached her ears. She gaped at me, gesturing angrily in a silent way that I was sure would have been incredibly colorful could she have talked. The Irish boy peered around the statue before visibly relaxing.

"It's just Malfoy." He stuck another tube forcefully into the ground. "You're a Slytherin! You go distract him!"

My eyes widened as he leaned toward me. "No, no, no!" I whispered harshly, but it was too late. He pushed me over, causing me to be knocked off balance. I tumbled out from behind the confines of the statue. Draco whipped around quickly, drawing his wand out of his robes as he did so.

A puzzled expression crossed his face as he slowly lowered the wand. "Natalie? What are you doing out here?"

I stood up, ignoring the stabbing feeling to gesture quite rudely to the two people behind the statue, and brushed myself off. "Oh, nothing. Just…don't those trees just look great at this time of year?"

Draco's puzzled expression fell and was quickly replaced by a suspicious one. "What are you doing out here, Garcia?" I felt a nudge in my calf and peeked back in time to see Padma's foot slipping back behind the stone gargoyle.

"Nothing!" I said more vehemently than I meant to. "Nothing at all. I'm just-"

I was saved by a high pitched whistle noise that emitted right behind me. I was close enough to hear the shriek of shock that Padma let out, but in Draco's surprise of the bright white light that lit up the sky, he must have missed it.

I spun around as I heard a faint 'whoops.' The blackened sky was bright with the fireworks Seamus had provided us. The words AMYCUS CARROW LOOKS LIKE A DINNER ROLL were unmistakable against the cloudy backdrop of the night.

Mafloy closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I recognized it as the calming mechanism he had started using when something really made him mad. I also realized it was the mechanism he used mostly around me.

"Please. For the love of Merlin. Do not tell me you're a part of that."

I snorted in a rather convincing fashion if I do say so myself. "Me? Be a part of that? You have to be-"

His murderous glare would have cut me off, but he was beaten to it by an angry roar that emanated throughout the courtyard. Heavy footsteps headed in our direction, slapping against the stone as if an elephant were stampeding toward us.

"Now you've done it." Draco clenched his teeth as he grabbed my upper arm. "And I suggest all culprits make a run for it now," he tacked on a little louder than necessary. He must have known I didn't work alone.

Seamus and Padma shot out from behind the gargoyle, sprinting past us and into an empty corridor that branched off the courtyard. Seamus was whooping quite gleefully, laughing as he galloped away from the scene. Padma was trying her best to quiet him down as she ran behind him, glancing over her shoulder as she went.

Draco followed their path for a few steps before turning down a completely separate corridor. He quickly threw open a small, wooden door and unceremoniously dumped me inside. I tripped over a stick-like object before landing hard on what seemed to be an overturned bucket.

"Hey-" I started to say, but his glare kept me from saying anything else. We stayed quiet for a moment as the heavy footsteps came nearer. I could only imagine what the owner would say if they threw open the wooden door and saw me perched on a bucket with Draco standing beside me. I hoped for a second they would find us.

The footsteps dawdled near the door. My heart began to race, sweat began to work its way into the palm of my hand. Draco kept his ear pressed firmly to the door, only relaxing when the footsteps slowly began to fade.

When the footsteps were no longer in earshot, he slid onto the floor, sighing deeply as he did so.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Garcia? Amycus Carrow?"

I grinned widely, though he wasn't able to see it in the dark closet. "I thought it had a nice ring to it. Don't you? It was certainly the truth."

I could almost hear the sneering comments that were running through his head at that moment. "After all I've done for you and this is how you repay-"

"How I repay you?" I scoffed. "Is that what you were going to say? I certainly hope not considering I haven't spoken to you in a month!"

An awkward silence fell between us. I began to fiddle with the hem of my jacket. Long strings were beginning to hang off the edge, making it a perfect way to pass the time.

"What we have…" Draco began softly. I perked up immediately, curious as to what he had to say. "What we have, I need it to stay sane. It's the only constant thing in my life."

Whatever I thought he was going to say, it certainly wasn't that. I was completely thrown by the statement and by the tone of it. He sounded almost…sad.

"You mean the fighting, the insulting, the homework destroying? You repeatedly saving me from the Carrows?" I replied. "Because that isn't any sane relationship I've ever been in. Friend or otherwise."

I heard Draco exhale sharply. "The fights are what keep me going." He leaned forward and placed a hand on my knee. It was a simple touch, but one that sent a chill up my body nonetheless. I felt my defenses break down- the defenses that had taken me a month to build up.

Exhilarated by what he said aside, I still couldn't help but feel betrayed by my own body. It was embarrassing what a big effect he had on me was. I don't know how long we stayed in that position- me squatting on an overturned bucket, him sitting on the floor with his hand on my knee.

All I know is that we stayed that way, completely silent, until the sun came up in the morning.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8, here we come!  
>I hope I'm getting better at this posting schedule. Sorry it's been taking me so long! I think I have it all figured out though.<strong>

**Anyways, no other news from me.**

**Read, review, and enjoy!**

"So you're relationship with Malfoy is basically a not so fun-filled roller coaster ride?" Seamus asked as he glanced around the empty corridor for a moment before erasing the jet black ink on a new NOTICE parchment with his wand.

Professor Snape and his band of death eaters had taken to posting new rules on the boards around the school at least once a day. We had taken it upon ourselves to change said rules at least once a day, usually on our breaks.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I replied as I checked our list of new things to edit the notice board with, "Um, write on that one 'I will not swap Draco Malfoy's broom with one out of Filch's broom closet, no matter how funny the result may be.'"

Seamus chuckled for a moment. "I always thought that was you. Everyone in Gryffindor was wondering how a member from another house got close enough to the Slytherin dorms to do that."

I grinned up at him. Seamus and I's relationship had taken a very drastic, but very positive, upward swing ever since the fireworks episode. He had become one of my best friends, one of my confidants. I told him everything that had happened between me and Malfoy. He told me about his cousin Fergus.

I would hate Fergus too if I were him.

This new, positive relationship with Seamus had Draco reeling inside. At first when I told him I was going to spend time with Seamus he snorted and said, "Really? The leprechaun? Why would you want to spend time with him?" But as the days, and eventually weeks, went on with us getting closer, Draco's anger of us spending so much time together became very intense.

"You need to stop hanging out with him now," he said one night after dragging me into his dorm room. "This friendship needs to end."

I had cocked my head to the side and asked if he was jealous. Not smart. He didn't talk to me for three days after that. Seamus fell onto the ground laughing when I told him that, choking out between cackles that he knew all along that Malfoy was a girl.

My newfound friendship with Seamus also took a toll on my relationship with Padma, though this was an upbeat change. As Seamus was very much a troublemaker like me, I no longer had to drag Padma out of her common room at all hours of the night forcing her to do rule-breaking things with me.

We moved down the hall, checking in alcoves and branching corridors for the Carrows or Snape. We weren't too worried about the other teachers finding us, as they started to only major house points for rule breaking. Their only rebellion was that the professors refused to refer any student, no matter the crime, to the Carrows for punishment.

And in this new Hogwarts, no one really cared that much about winning the house cup.

"Here's another one," Seamus snickered as we approached it. "Educational Decree Number 25. Professors Amycus and Alecto Carrow will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions and removals of privileges as may have been placed by other staff members." He paused for a moment, throwing the large piece of parchment a dirty look. "What is this one going to say?"

I flicked through the list, smirking as I came across one of my favorite ones. "If I spell makes me laugh for more than 15 seconds, I am to assume I am not allowed to use it."

"Nice!" Seamus chuckled as he slid his wand across the parchment, effectively erasing all of the old ink. He scribbled the new message onto the parchment, taking a step back to admire his work. "I think we've gotten to all of them, don't you?"

I nodded my head, rather impressed with our idea for a rebellious act. We had started on the first floor just after curfew began and had worked our way through the halls since then. I checked out the nearest window for the large clock that sat in the middle of the courtyard. It was indiscernible from this angle, so I just hopped up onto the windowsill and took a seat. I swung my legs back and forth, taking a special interest in my worn out sneakers.

"Hey, Natalie?" Seamus asked quietly as he leaned against the wall next to the windowsill. "I have a question. Why do you spend so much time with Malfoy?"

The question didn't necessarily catch me off guard, as I could tell from the tone that he had been waiting to ask since we met on the first floor earlier that night. I shrugged my shoulders, continuing to stare down at my sneakers. "I don't know. We're close. I like him, he likes me. It's just…we just fight a lot, that's all."

Seamus shifted to a more comfortable position. "He isn't very nice to you." His statement did manage to catch me off guard this time. I whipped my head around to look up at him.

"What do you mean? He's nice to me!" There was a large gust of wind outside that rattled the window behind me. Some of the cool breeze snuck in through the cracks in the seal, sending chills up my bare arms.

"Eh, just forget that I asked." He said quietly as he pushed himself off the wall. "We're right down the hall from my common room, so I'm going to head back. See you tomorrow?" He turned quickly to give me a brief, one-armed squeeze. I returned the hug, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, see you at the meeting tomorrow."

I sat on the windowsill, watching him walk down the hallway until he turned the corner and disappeared from view. I glared down at my sneakers, wondering what others were truly seeing in my relationship with Draco that I was not.

The DA meeting was scheduled for early the next day, before breakfast had even began. I stomped out of the common room, half-asleep as I made my way to the seventh floor. The sun's light had just begun to peek out in the valley between the tall mountains. I was glad I had brought a sweatshirt with me, as the cold wind whipped fiercely through the hallways.

"Nice hair," Padma teased me as I met with her just outside the Room of Requirements. I patted it gingerly with my right hand. A large, messy bun was lopsided on the top of my head, sinking downward on the right side. I shrugged casually. I hadn't even bothered changing out of my leggings and tank top that I had worn to bed last night, instead choosing to throw on a large sweatshirt over it.

"Oy! What are you two doing out of bed this early?" the nasty, old man in one of the portraits had started to scream. In our fatigue, we had forgotten to duck underneath his frame. "Professors! PROFESSORS!"

"Obliviate," my best friend shot lazily over to him. The jinx hit him right in the nose, spreading out onto the canvas before sinking beneath the paint. A dazed look cleared over his face as a wide, toothless smile split his lips.

"I think that did the trick," I said. Between staying up late the night before and getting up early this morning, I wasn't really in the mood to exuberate a lot of energy. The wooden door appeared before us and Padma seized the large, black handle. She tugged forcefully and the door flew open, causing her to stumble back a few steps.

I watched her trip over her own feet, my mind not keeping up with what was happening around me. A few hands shot out of the room, grabbing onto our shirts and pulling us into the room. The wooden door snapped shut behind us.

"Now that the last two are here," Neville started loudly, effectively quieting down the entire crowd before him. His hair was neatly placed. He was already dressed for the day. I was sickened by his morning chirpiness. "I've been give some information by a very trusted source. We have a source on the inside."

Sharp whispers emitted from around the room. Students hissed to each other, wondering exactly what that meant and if people were about to get caught. Neville held up his hands, ceasing the talking once more.

"Natalie, come to the front."

I glared at Seamus, who shuffled his feet guiltily. I knew what this was about immediately and why Seamus had questioned me so much the night before. He was wondering how much I knew about the death eater activity, specifically Malfoy's death eater activity.

"Natalie, we're all wondering if you want to be our spy. You're the only Slytherin, you talk to Draco Malfoy. Do you think you could find out information for us?"

I shrugged my shoulders and tilted my head in a neutral response. I was too tired to even think about what that all entailed. Everyone must have taken it as a positive sign, though because they cheered and whooped as if I had just won the quidditch cup.

"Wonderful, Natalie. I knew you would come through for us!" Neville beamed just before the bell signifying the start of breakfast resonated through the room. "Don't forget!" he called after everyone who was rushing to leave the room. "Meeting next week, different time so check your coins!"

I wobbled over to Padma, who looked less than thrilled at the prospect of getting up so early for such a short meeting. "I thought we were going to actually do something," she muttered in an annoyed tone. "Couldn't he at least have asked you in private instead of dragging us out of our beds at Merlin knows what time in the morning?"

She was even less of a morning person than I these days. I just shrugged my shoulders again, not having enough energy to respond verbally.

"Wait," I said as we headed toward Defense Against the Dark Arts later that morning. The sun was peeking out over the mountaintops now and it had even begun to snow. Padma hurried over to the window, ignoring me, as she peered out onto the grounds like an excited child on Christmas Day. I hurried over to her, tripping over the stone floor that always seemed to get me early in the morning. "Did I really agree to what I think I agreed on?"

"If you think you agreed on spying on Malfoy and trying to extract knowledge from him than yes, you agreed to what you think you agreed on." She stuck her hand through a small hole in the stone, grabbing some of the piling snow off the windowsill on the outside. "Mmm…I love winter!"

"Ick," I murmured under my breath as she pulled her hand out of the hole and smiled over to me. "I hate winter." We hitched our bags higher onto our shoulders and hurried off to the classroom, as the warning bell had begun to ring.

The corridor outside the classroom was filled with seventh years. As usual, Crabbe, Goyle, and Padma were standing at the front nearest the door whereas members of the DA were stationed toward the rear. Everyone else was clumped in the middle. I waved at Seamus, who grinned widely at me from across the corridor. He motioned over to the notice board stuck on the wall, where it read "If a classmate falls asleep, I will not take advantage and draw a dark mark on their arm."

I tucked my head, trying hard to hide the smirk that wanted to creep onto my face. Instead, I glanced over to Malfoy who had just snapped his eyes away from me in a very noticeable manner. Evidently he had been watching the exchange between Seamus and me. I rolled my eyes as the classroom door snapped open.

Amycus was blocking the way, but not enough to keep us from being able to see the small pairs of feet that littered the room behind him. "When you enter," he started to say as he began to step aside. "Pick a partner from this here crowd." He gestured behind him. "Then settle in and start to work on your Cruciatus curses."

We stared at him in disbelief for a moment, except the three at the front who were bouncing eagerly on their feet.

"Come on, then! Move it!" he yelled, causing us to jump into action and push past him into the classroom. What we saw wasn't ideal.

A group of about twenty first years were standing nervously at the front of the classroom, shuffling their feet anxiously as we filed in. Pansy picked off a small girl with black ponytails that jutted from the top of her head. She was shaking from head to toe as Pansy pulled her off into a corner of the classroom.

Crabbe and Goyle followed suit, picking two small boys (one with blonde, mousy hair and the other with shaggy, brown hair) before taking another corner of the room opposite Pansy. They stood in place with their arms crossed over their chests, as if they were guarding the two first years from the rest of the room.

"This is wrong!" Neville said passionately as he pushed his way into the room. "I'm not doing this. Cursing first years? This is completely mental!"

A few DA members were nodding their heads with determined looks on their faces.

"Yeah! We aren't doing this!"

"I can't believe you would make us curse first years!"

"Pick on someone your own size, Carrow!"

Amycus shoved through the crowd. Ernie Macmillian fell to the floor, cracking his knee loudly against the stone. The sound was painful even to me. I rushed over to him, making sure to check that his kneecap wasn't broken. Draco looked down at me with a disgusted look on his face. I decidedly ignored him.

"SILENCE!" Alecto screamed. The first years that were still positioned at the front of the room cowered in their tight group at the noise. "If you don't pick one, I'll pick one for you."

He shot out his arm, grabbing a hold of the nearest first year and flung her in Neville's direction. Neville caught the small girl before she fell to the floor. "No!" Neville said again as he kept a hand on her shoulder to make sure she had her balance. "I'm not going to curse her. She's a first year!"

"Please," the girl whimpered quietly. Tears of fear were streaming down her small cheeks. Pieces of hair were sticking out from her messy bun. "Please just do it. He said he would hurt my family if I didn't come. Please, just curse me."

Neville appeared painfully torn as he flicked his gaze back up to Amycus, who was gleeful at the girl's terror. I stood up from my squat next to Ernie and moved over to stand next to Neville.

"No, I won't hurt them either. It's cruel."

Slowly, but surely, more and more seventh years joined our sides, vowing not to hurt any of the younger students. Amycus's face grew uglier and darker as time wore on.

"Fine," Amycus said with a dangerously quiet whisper, "don't practice on the brats." He raised his wand toward the small group. "You caused this." Without another word and without even looking away from us, he shot a curse over to the first years, making sure to hit every single one of them. They flew backward, cracking heads and limbs against desks, the wall, and the stone floor. One remained unmoving as the bookcase toppled on top of him. We gasped in disbelief at the scene before us.

I rushed over to the small boy, pushing the bookcase off him. He groaned, clutching his head, which had begun to bleed heavily from just under his hairline. He opened his eyes, squinting at the light that shone behind me for a moment. "Why didn't you just curse me?" he asked quietly before passing out. "Why didn't you just listen to him?"

I froze in my kneeled position over the boy, wondering how bad his classes usually go for him to be begging that he get cursed. "I need help over here! He needs to be taken to the hospital wing!"

"Nobody move," Amycus ordered and the class stopped in their tracks. No one wanted the first years to get cursed again. Many of them were groaning on the floor, rubbing sore limbs and bruises that had started to appear. "Not yet."

Neville, who had a bad habit of rule breaking, pushed through the crowd and kneeled down next to me anyways. "Do you think he's going to be okay?" he whispered as he lifted the small boy off the ground. "Should he go see Madam Pomfrey?"

I nodded my head. "I think he'll be fine. He should go see Madam Pomfrey though, just in case." I could only imagine her reaction to seeing the boy. She spent much of her time these days grumbling about looking after cursed students. I looked up at Amycus, only to see him glaring at me in return.

"You're an awful human being," I shot over to him as the students cleared a path for Neville and the limp boy in his arms. "How could you do that to children? How could you-?"

I was cut off by a hand slapping over my mouth. Another hand clasped onto my arm and dragged me from the front of the classroom. The students once again parted to let us through. Padma had an expression of concern plastered on her face.

I struggled against the hand as the classroom door slammed shut behind us. "Get off me!" I licked the hand over my mouth and the owner let out a yell of protest.

"Merline, Garcia! What the hell was that for?"

I spun around and looked up to see Malfoy glaring down at me, his arms crossed over his chest. "Why do I always have to get you out of these situations?" he sighed as he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes.

"I was doing just fine in there," I said stubbornly after a moment of silence. "I was just giving my opinion-"

"Natalie, don't you get it?" Draco yelled at me, finally uncovering his eyes. "This isn't a game anymore! This isn't just detentions you're gambling with. I can't keep following you around to make sure you don't get yourself killed!"

"I never asked you to!" I huffed. "I never asked you to follow me around."

"You're being incredibly selfish, Natalie Garcia. Can't even comply with a simple order to stay put and, surprise, look what you did! A kid got sent to the hospital wing because of you. Don't you get it? Don't you see it? You're causing all of this!"

I felt a barb of pain stick me right in the heart. I hadn't even thought of it in that sense. I wasn't the one causing all the curses and jinxes, was I? It was still his fault, wasn't it? Despite the fact he had been throwing himself out there to save me multiple times, wasn't it him trying to make up for everything he had done in the past?

He shook his head as he looked down on me. I felt small at this point, smaller than those first years that were still trapped in that classroom. "For someone that makes herself out to be so smart, you can be incredibly naïve."

He turned away from me and headed back into the classroom. More than likely, he was going to try and fix the mess I had created. Once again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope everyone has been enjoying it so far! Haven't had too many people giving me feedback, so if you could just let me know that would be great!  
>I know the scheduling has been kind of crazy as of lately, but I hope I'm at least getting a little back on track for you guys!<strong>

**Anyways, here is chapter 9. Still a long ways to go, lots more twists and turns for you to look forward to!  
>Read, review, and enjoy!<strong>

The DA had been pretty subdued in the week following the attack on the first years. No one really wanted to provoke the Carrows anymore than they already had. After Draco dragged me from the classroom, Neville evidently got to close for comfort with Amycus and he left the classroom with a black eye paired with a swollen lip. I had the wits not to go back, fortunately for me.

That also meant that Amycus had a death wish out on me. He upped the ante when it came to shooting curses at me, even going as far as to shoot a dark curse that wouldn't heal if it hit me. It grazed me, leaving only a long, red mark, as if a small child had slashed at my upper arm. I was lucky that it didn't break the skin.

"I'm tired of stitching up after you back talkers!" Madam Pomfrey had tutted when I went to see her in the hospital wing. "Death eaters in the castle, students being tortured." She poured a foul smelling, orange potion onto my arm. I hissed in pain as it smoked and boiled. It must have done the job she wanted it to, because she gazed down at it triumphantly from over her spectacles.

"It'll only create a seal. You'll need to come back once a month to get it replaced." She set my arm down on the bed before bustling over to take care of Neville, who was lying in the bed next to me with bruise removal cream slathered over his right eye. I looked over at him sadly, but he grinned and sent me two thumbs up. He wasn't getting his spirits down just yet.

In fact, it seemed after the first year's incident that only increased his drive and determination to do more damage to the Carrows, despite everyone else being hesitant to follow.

"Neville, we can't keep doing these crazy things!" Padma tried to reason with him at the meeting we attended that evening. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her body shivered with anxiety and nervousness. Ernie MacMillian and Lavender Brown nodded slowly, their faces scrunched with apprehension. "It's getting too dangerous for us to keep doing this! First having you, Ginny, and Luna tortured in front of the school, then the first years. This is way too wild for me."

"Are you giving up?" he shot back at her, a fierce look flashed in his eyes. "Because I won't give up. I won't. We have to get rid of these Death Eaters. We have to get rid of them for Harry."

I was sitting in the back corner of the room playing Hangman with Seamus. We were pretty neutral on the whole "getting rid of the Carrows" deal. We just liked to vandalize the castle. And I was pretty sure that wouldn't stop, no matter what the DA said.

"I'm not saying we give up!" Padma replied. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before she went on. "I'm just saying we need to find a different approach. We can't just waltz around the castle with Natalie's list of "no goods" and expect to not get in trouble!"

Neville opened his mouth to retort, but I turned my attention back to the piece of parchment in front of me. "Damn," I muttered as the stick figure Seamus had drawn dropped off the platform, effectively ending my turn. "What was the phrase?"

"Alecto Carrow looks like a doughnut."

I smirked up at Seamus. "Ah, I should have guessed that. Best two out of three?"

Seamus grinned as he ripped another piece of parchment from his book bag and set it on the table. "You're on, Garcia!"

"Well I refuse-" Neville shouted over the muttering crowd. We began the game again, tuning out the argument coming from the other side of the room. The fire crackled on our side, throwing the Room of Requirement into sharp relief. It had begun to evolve, changing ever so slightly since our meetings began those few short months ago. A book here, a piece of equipment there.

Padma said that it looked quite different than how it did in the fifth year. She said it was cozier, much more inviting than the mirrors and black, tiled floors from a few years back. It was a good thing, I suspected, since we spent most of our time in this room.

The library was no longer available, since Alecto had taken it upon herself to patrol the aisles. She went through books- tossing the good ones and replacing them with texts on dark spells, curses, and potions. She lifted the ban on the Restricted Section. We had heard from a few first years that joined our secret group that she had been assigning them research on dark curses, their origins, and effects.

It was rather sickening to me.

"Natalie? Are you listening to me?"

I shook my head, glancing back up to Seamus. He was waving a hand in front of my face, an expectant look plastered on his own. "Wh-what?" I answered, confused as all get out.

"I was asking if you had heard anything from Malfoy."

I shook my head as I scratched an 'A' onto the parchment. The letter appeared in a few blank spaces on Seamus's side of the paper. He looked downtrodden at my guess. "No, I've been pretty much avoiding him. He's been pretty much avoiding me. I'm starting to think he was right."

Seamus shook his head quickly. "No, don't think that. Standing up for what you believe in- that's worth fighting for. Don't let him tell you otherwise." I grinned over to my newest friend, a slight weight lifting off my heart. He had a way of making me feel better in the simplest way. He made me laugh when I needed it- mostly through his experiments resulting in explosions and fires.

"I've done one thing!" I heard Luna say in the background. There was a brief silence, where no one spoke for a moment. It was as if they weren't quite sure what to make of what she was about to say.

"Alright Luna," Neville sighed, "tell us what you've done to offset the Carrows."

There was another pause and shuffling as Luna pulled an empty jar out of her book bag. "I've let loose some Nargles onto Professor Snape," she said triumphantly as she showed off the empty jar, "he'll probably be wondering what all that buzzing is for the next few weeks. They don't like to go away once they've found a home."

"That's…that's just great," Padma said. I smirked. I could tell from the tone in my best friend's voice that she was near the edge of her breaking point. "I don't even know what that means. Does anyone know what the hell that means?"

The crowd began to murmur again after Padma's brief speech. "Hey! Everyone!" someone from near the middle shouted. It went quiet again. From the corner of my eye, I saw flaming red hair rise above the throng of students. Ginny Weasley had stepped onto a platform that the room had provided. "Don't you see?" she started as soon as everyone's attention was on her. "This is exactly what You-Know-Who wants. We're fighting amongst each other trying to figure out the best way to bring down the Carrows. We need to stick together and not attack one another. Or we're just as bad as them."

There was some nodding and noises of agreement. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Now, obviously not everyone is going to have the same idea on what's best for our group. But I know Harry Potter and he would want us to band together and figure it out. Obviously, not every single one of us is going to have the nerve to go out and physically vandalize the school like Natalie and Seamus."

We paused from our game and put our hands in the air dramatically. A few people chuckled at our wild behavior.

"And not everyone is going to want to stand up to the Carrows like Neville has been."

"Here, here!" Ernie Macmillian proclaimed. A few more people clapped and cheered as Neville's face turned bright red. Michael Corner patted him roughly on the back.

"But we all have a talent or something that we can bring to the table. We just need to sit down and figure out what that is." There was a positive buzz once Ginny was done talking as they settled down into armchairs and poufs.

"Won again!" Seamus proclaimed happily as my stickman took the dive off the platform once more. "What next?"

"I think you know what's next," I teased him as crumpled the parchment into a ball and tossed it into the fire. "We know our roll in this group."

A smile emerged onto Seamus's face, lighting up his eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

I grinned back at him. "If what you're thinking involves paint and some rather artistic drawings, then yes. We are in fact thinking the exact same thing."

Seamus turned to his book bag and scuffled around in it for a moment. He twisted his body forward a moment later, this time holding a large can of blue paint in his hand. I narrowed my eyes at it. "Why are you carrying around a tin of blue paint?"

"Why are you asking questions?"

I nodded, as I really had no response to that. "Touché, good sir." I stood up from the pouf I had been sitting on, adjusting my jeans so they were no longer riding up. Seamus snorted in amusement as he watched. "Shut up, Finnigan," I said quickly before yelling out, "We're going to do our roll in this group! See you later!"

A few people laughed and waved. A few more people, Padma included, looked nervous at the thought of us getting caught. I just shrugged at my best friend and put up my hands innocently. She offered up a small smile before returning to the discussion at hand.

We climbed through the crowd and over to the wooden door on the other side of the room. After peeking carefully around the doorframe, I gestured for Seamus to follow me out into the hallway. That was the one bad thing about the Room of Requirements- we never really knew where it was going to let us off at. This hallway, based on the height between the ground and the window to my left, appeared to be on the third floor.

Seamus shoved the can of paint into my hand and twisted me around to a blank spot on the wall. I stared at it for a moment before glancing back at him.

"What am I supposed to write?" I asked blankly. He sent me a look of disbelief.

"You tell me! You're the witty genius here, remember?"

"Hmmm…yeah I forgot." I turned back to the wall, the pot of blue paint dangling from my hands in front of my body. I bounced it against my knees, thinking, until I realized the cap had come loose and blue paint was dripping onto the front of my jeans. "Damn," I muttered as I pulled out my wand and attempted to clean them before the paint dried.

Seamus was snickering behind me, while I mocked him quite rudely when we heard them. Footsteps. Hard and fast against the ground. In my moment of panic, when I had that feeling of fear choking up inside me, I shoved the pot of paint into Seamus's hands. It sloshed over the side, soaking the front of his shirt.

"Holy mother of-" he started to say before he shoved the can back into my hands. The paint sloshed over once again, covering my arms and hands in blue. The footsteps were just around the corner by this time and my intestines had begun to squirm like a pile of worms. We spun around like complete idiots for another second, trying to find a place to hide. There were no alcoves, no staircases, and the wooden door leading into the Room of Requirement had long since vanished.

So I did the only thing I could think of. I tossed the can of paint out the window just in time for the person to round the corner of the hallway. Seamus and I fixed a position in front of a knight, staring at it intensely, as if we had just finished a rather deep conversation about it. A second later, I heard the can of paint clatter loudly against the stone ground of the courtyard before an loud yell of disgust came up through the window. The knight began to wheeze, as if it were laughing.

"So help me, if you don't stop laughing I'm going to take that sword and shove it up your back orifice so hard you'll be choking on it till next Tuesday," I growled at it. The knight immediately began to clank in protest, but at least the snickering subsided.

"Natalie! Seamus! Surprise to see you here!" a rather low voice resounded through the empty hall. It was a voice I hadn't heard in awhile- a voice that I hoped I wouldn't hear at all. Cormac McLaggen trotted over to us, grinning idiotically. "Why are you staring at that knight? You know, I once was asked to train the knights in the school. Per the Minister of Magic, of course."

The knight in front of us clanked in protest. I managed to hide my smirk as I turned to face him. Bad idea. He caught sight of the blue paint covering my jeans, hands, and arms. He cocked an eyebrow before looking past me, onto Seamus, and his blue-clad shirt.

"Why are you covered in blue paint?"

I pulled a quick face of confusion. "We aren't covered in blue paint."

"What is that on your hands?"

"A bad skin reaction."

"On your clothes as well?"

"It spreads quickly," I shot back, getting slightly irritated by his oh-so-stimulating word vomit. I ground my teeth together, forcing myself to think happy thoughts. _Happy, happy thoughts. _Well, it was nice weather despite the fierce winds and relentless snow. The moon was shining bright outside, which probably meant the grounds were infested with werewolves. And Cormac McLaggen had graced us with his presence. Awesome.

After the happy thoughts quickly vacated, I was left smoldering in a rare moment of seriously hating my life.

Cormac grinned happily down at me, as if my very existence was the pinnacle of his joy. Seriously, the guy had classes with TWO raging, murderous death eaters. What did he have to be so jolly about?

"Ah, I know what this is," he said, shaking his pointer finger at us. "You two are stamping. Good for you! Going with the trends of the day and all. Although I have to warn you, it isn't that unique anymore."

Seamus, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this exchange, finally piped up. "McLaggen, what in the name of Merlin is stamping?"

Cormac waved off his question, as if it were just a joke. "Oh, you know what stamping is. It's all the rage in Beauxbatons these days. I have a cousin that goes there, you know. Top of her class." He paused, as if he were expecting a congratulatory reaction from us. He went on when he didn't get one. "It's when students cover themselves in paint and throw themselves at a wall in hopes of 'stamping' their body frame permanently to something."

I sat in silence for a moment, reveling in my thoughts of who in the hell would be stupid enough to do that. For time management purposes, however, I just nodded my head. "Of course we are," I said dryly as I turned Cormac around and shoved him toward the end of the hallway, "we're stamping. How lucky you were to catch us. You should probably go though. I can't imagine the Carrows being too overjoyed about this. And you don't want to get caught."

Cormac gulped audibly and nodded before scurrying out of the corridor. I was pretty impressed with myself, as I didn't have to think too hard about how to get him to go away.

"So where were we?" I turned with a smile to ask Seamus, but instead found myself face to face with Draco Malfoy. He was looking pretty upset and I couldn't blame him. He was covered from head to toe in blue paint. My eyes widened as I took in his appearance. Seamus, who had backed into the wall, gazed on at the scene with a mixed look of curiosity and apprehension.

"You know what I was doing in the courtyard?" he asked dangerously. I shook my head, not wanting to say anything that would upset him more than he already was. "I was walking around the damn castle. Looking for you. Lucky enough for me, I saw you in the third floor window. Right before you threw a bucket of paint out of it. Then, of course, I had to hightail it up here to figure out what the hell you were doing throwing a can of paint out of a third floor window."

I shrugged my shoulders innocently. "You couldn't have just cleaned yourself off and waited for later?" If looks could kill, I wouldn't be killed. I would be melted on the ground with Malfoy walking through my puddle.

"What were you doing with that bucket of paint?" he asked quietly. The serious tone of his voice made me want to giggle, but I stifled it. Probably wouldn't have made the best impression.

"Erm…I was going to…erm…paint something."

He continued to stare at me, emotionless. Evidently he didn't find my obvious answer very funny. "We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. It's up to you."

I scoffed at him. What was he really going to do? He couldn't-hey…wait a minute. I felt something probe around in my brain, as if someone were shuffling through a file cabinet of memories. It flicked from back to front, reliving moments of my day. Moments that included our secret group meeting in the Room of Requirements.

Damn. This was not going to end well.

The probe withdrew quickly, leaving my mind exhausted. I clutched my head for a moment before realizing that Draco hadn't said anything for awhile. I glanced up at him, only to see him seething down at me.

"You are not a member of THAT," he managed to say out between clenched teeth. If it were possible, I was sure he would breathe fire. Luckily for me, he didn't possess that talent. Seamus took a step back from Draco with the obvious intention of staying out of the way.

"How did you- wait a second. Was that you in my head?" I screeched at him, my voice becoming shriller with every word. "How did you do that? Why would you do that? That's completely out of line-"

"Completely out of line?" he shouted back, taking a step toward me in anger. I held my ground, but barely. I hadn't ever seen him this mad before. And that included when I tripped him and locked him in the closet during the fifth year when he tried to give me a detention. "You're really pulling that card are you? I've done nothing but put my ass on the line for you and this is how you repay me? Joining some Mudblood loving group specializing in getting rid of the Carrows?" He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and disbelief. "I just…no, you know what. I'm done. This is done. I can't even begin to tell you how mad I am right now."

I narrowed my eyes before lunging out and shoving him hard in the chest. He barely moved an inch. "What do you mean this is over? You aren't ending it with me, because I'm ending it with you. I'm sick of you trying to control me all the time. I can do whatever the hell I want! And if that includes joining a secret group than I'm going to! You haven't done anything except try to put me in my place this whole year and I'm done with it!"

Draco pushed past me, throwing his hands in the air. "I don't care what the hell you do anymore. Clean up your own damn messes now. I don't want anything to do with you. I have my own shit to deal with." He started walking down the hall, slamming his fists into the stone in anger.

"You go deal with it then!" I shouted at his back. "I hate you Draco Malfoy. I hate you!"

He turned the corner and disappeared without another glance back. I was breathing hard by this point, my chest rose and fell very visibly. I heard Seamus walk up behind me before placing a hand lightly on my shoulder. I shrugged off his comfort, stomping over to the window to gaze out onto the grounds.

It was over. It was really over and done with between Draco and me. No, I was done with it. It had been far too long, far too stressful for me to deal with his anger problems anymore. I just needed to move on, to find someone that was actually worth my time and energy. It had been a long year and a half relationship with Draco.

I placed both hands on the cool windowsill, trying to calm down the fire that was running through my veins.

I pulled my gaze from the cracked stone at the base of the window just in time to see a bright, white doe prance from a window at the top of a tower and into the dark trees below.


	10. Chapter 10

**We're finally hitting the double digits!  
>Can't believe it's already chapter 10. It's all going by so fast.<strong>

**I know, it's kind of shorter than usual, but I actually had a really hard time writing this one.  
>I don't know why.<strong>

**Anyways, Review, review, review, review!  
>It would make me so incredibly happy!<strong>

**Read and enjoy!**

The last week of the term had been magical, if anything could be magical under the circumstances. Hagrid had dragged in the usual gigantic Christmas trees. Flitwick had decorated them with gold and silver baubles, faeries, and snow. Garland had been wrapped around the banisters, mistletoe planted on the inside of doorframes, and large icicles hung off of the ceiling and alcoves.

Of course, Amycus and Alecto had gone through and ripped down every last decoration. In retaliation, Peeves and a few members of the DA had taught the knights how to sing carols in obscene and rather inappropriate ways.

Give us a break. We had to do something.

The Carrow siblings weren't the only ones that were lost to the holiday spirit. Draco Malfoy strutted around the castle docking house points for laughing too loudly, gave detentions for girls loitering under the mistletoe for too long, and even went as far as to threaten a pair of first years with expulsion for hugging outside the Charms classroom.

I kept myself busy the rest of the week by avoiding Draco like the plague. If he had given a second year girl detention because she sneezed without covering her mouth, could you imagine what he would do to me if we happened across each other in an empty hallway? Yeah, I can't either.

I stayed up extremely late walking the corridors with Seamus and Padma and woke up extremely early to get to breakfast before anyone else was awake. Because it wasn't just Draco Malfoy I had to worry about anymore.

Once Pansy Parkinson and her cronies had caught wind that Draco and I had ended our relations, not only had she began following Draco around like a lost puppy, but she also upped the ante on the number of times she could make my life miserable in a day.

Needless to say, I stayed out of everyone's way for the most part. Except…remember that night a week earlier when I had accidently dropped a bucket of paint out of a window and onto Malfoy? Well, it was an accident that it landed on him, not that I had tossed it out the window.

Anyways, evidently being covered in blue paint was NOT something that Professor McGonagall approved of, even during the last week of school. Neither was being out after curfew. Which was something she caught Seamus and myself doing…along with Draco Malfoy.

So, that's how I ended up sitting in detention (with McGonagall, who didn't bother reporting it to Amycus or Alecto) with four hours to go before the train left the platform. I was only seven minutes into it and I was _dying. _My feet and the legs of my chair had to be on the floor at all times. No turning around, no talking, whispering, making noises, distracting hand gestures or body language, no gum, no loud tapping, no food, no _nothing_. I'd probably get written up for breathing too loudly.

To hell with a holly, jolly Christmas. Let's just stick 'em in detention!

Draco was glaring at me from across the room, making sure to stare at me until I felt his vision. I turned my head to look at him, cocking my head to the side as if to challenge him. He shook his head softly and rolled his eyes, which wasn't the reply I was expecting to get.

"What?" I said out loud, forgetting where I was and that I wasn't allowed to be talking aloud.

Professor McGonagall's head snapped to attention, glaring at me from the front of the classroom. "Was there something you wanted to say, Miss Garcia?" I was fairly convinced that she had hated me ever since I wanted to see what would happen if I scared the raven we were working with in the fifth year. It took her half an hour to get it settled back down.

"No ma'am," I replied quickly, praying internally that she would just leave me alone.

She didn't. "You realize there is no talking in detention, correct?" she asked, placing her hands on the desk and pushing herself out of the chair she had been seated in.

"Yes ma'am," I answered as she walked up beside my desk, leering down at me.

"So you knew, but you still opened your mouth and spoke?"

Seamus and Draco were watching the exchange intently at this point. Seamus had a rather blank look on his face. Draco looked like Christmas had come a few days early.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I-" she threw up her hand to stop me from talking, which was fine and dandy, because what would I have said? She magically produced a piece of chalk and, with it, pointed at the chalk board at the front of the classroom.

"You will write 'I will not speak during detention' two hundred times on the board."

"Professor McGonagall? Don't you think that's a little cliché?" It was only an observation, but she had to go all postal on me.

Her nostrils flared and she narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you contradicting me, Miss Garcia? Because if you are then you can write it three hundred times. Or I could give you another detention."

I stood up and snatched the stupid chalk from her hand, grumbling angrily as I stalked past her. She looked slightly disappointed as I started writing my sentences.

I waited until Professor McGonagall was completely focused on Draco and Seamus to stop and shake out my hand. As I was taking a quick break, I noticed that I spelled my last 'detention' wrong. I went back to erase the extra 't', when I had an idea. Professor McGonagall couldn't see me and I had about one hundred eighty three "I will not speak during detention's" to go. Hey, why not.

My next sentence read: "I will not spoke during detention."

Then: "I will not speak during distraction."

Professor McGonagall was examining some papers on her desk, but after my fifth silly sentence, which read "I will not choke during flotation," Seamus's head tilted to the side. He squinted at the board for a moment before his face cleared and his mouth twitched at the corners.

Meanwhile, I was having a good old time writing stupid things, until I was halfway through and had a bunch of sentences that looked like this:

"I will not fork during inflammation."  
>"I will not croak during agitation."<br>"I will not blink during irritation."

Seamus was having a silent fit at his desk, biting his bottom lip and going from pink, to red, to blue, to purple, and back again. Even Draco was having a hard time keeping a straight face at this point. Luckily Professor McGonagall remained blissfully unaware of what I was doing until I was entirely finished with all two hundred sentences, each stating something different and equally ridiculous.

Finally looking up from her desk and noticing her color-changing pupil, who was now a funny orange color, Professor McGonagall spun around. She squinted at the board just like Seamus had, but trust me, she wasn't laughing.

"What", she said, slowly rising from her chair and strutting over to jab a finger at a sentence in the middle of the board, "is _this_?"

It was my turn to squint. "I believe that says 'I will not fart during constipation'.

A burst of laughter had Professor McGonagall turning to see Seamus rolling around on the floor gasping for breath. When she turned back to me her features were set in stone. "Explain—now."

I shrugged, "Grammatical error?"

"Can't say you didn't deserve it."

The train was trundling through open fields filled with snow. We passed quickly through as if the train were on a thin sheet of ice. I was so glad to be on my way home. It was the first time in seven years that Padma and I had, very literally, sprinted from the platform and onto the train.

I glanced out the window. We had entered a dense forest, where the snow barely graced the ground despite there being at least six inches just on the opposite side of the trees. "Thank you, Padma. Remind me to add that to the list of reasons I should smother you in your sleep."

I turned back to the parchment in front of me, filled with two hundred sentences for Professor McGonagall. Padma was on her stomach on the floor working on her Ancient Runes homework while I sat on the bench working on my five thousand lines of "I will not mock my teachers and will show respect to my peers at all times." No grammatical errors, due the first day of term. I was beginning to wonder how I got myself into situations like this.

"Don't blame me for your stupidity," Padma said quite unkindly, pushing one of Seamus's runaway chocolate frogs off her Ancient Runes book. "You always do things without thinking them through, and I always tell you to think before you act, but do you-"

"Yeah, I don't need the lecture. I get it already," I cut her off, trying to soothe the painful cramp in my fingers.

Padma snorted. "I don't think you do. I don't understand you. Why do you go looking for trouble? It's not like any good would come out of it."

I sighed, wanting to change the subject. Seamus's second chocolate frog hopped out of the package and onto Padma's homework once again. She brushed it off, smearing the chocolate across the parchment.

"Damn," she muttered as she licked her finger and tried to un-smudge the stain. Seamus, who had a guilt-ridden expression plastered on his face, took out his wand and pointed at Padma's homework.

"I can get that chocolate out for you if you want!" He moved forward off the bench, but Padma scooted the parchment away from him. As if on cue, bright golden sparks flew from the end of his wand.

"You will not touch this," she said fiercely, glaring at him from under the blanket of black hair that was spread over her Ancient Runes book.

"Where did Neville, Ginny, and Luna go?" I asked suddenly, my brow crunching in the middle. I had just realized that they had been missing for a long time now. The train left the dense forest and was rolling through a small village filled with large empty gardens and fields full of animals.

Padma and Seamus shrugged their shoulders, turning back to their previous activities. Seamus started to peel open another chocolate frog package, while Padma started to decode another Ancient Runes assignment.

I sighed again. It was an incredibly long train ride. The seats weren't that comfortable. There was only candy on the trolley the plump witch brought around. My butt was starting to hurt. Seeing all the cows outside wasn't bringing me much joy. Neither were the sentences McGonagall assigned to me

I stood up, stretching my back and spreading my arms into the air. "I'm going to stretch my legs. Use the bathroom. Whatever."

I slid open the compartment door and pressed my back up against the train wall to avoid running straight into a group of second year boys staring into a compartment filled with sixth year girls. I rolled my eyes as I passed them, shaking my head lightly.

I headed toward the bathroom, not really sure where to go at this point. I wasn't too keen on running into Draco at this point…especially after the detention earlier today. He wasn't too fond of me either.

I stood in line for the bathroom, directly behind a third year boy who evidently had waited way to long before leaving his compartment. He bounced up and down in front of me, his hands clasped awkwardly in front of his bladder. He rushed into the next available stall, pushing past a small first year girl who had been waiting ahead of him.

"Hey!" she yelped as she caught her balance against the wall next to the stall. "I was here first!"

He didn't say anything to her as the lock clicked into place behind him.

"That was rather immature of you this morning," a voice behind me muttered into my ear. I jumped in place, spinning around to glare at the person behind me.

"Oh…I thought we weren't on speaking terms anymore," I said to Draco. His face changed from a smirk to a sneer in an impressively small amount of time. I turned back around to wait for the first open bathroom.

"We aren't, Garcia." He snapped at me. It was my turn to smirk. I really loved to wind him up. "Especially after McGonagall sent us on Christmas break with five thousand lines thanks to you."

A bathroom opened up and, without another word to Malfoy, I headed in that direction. Unfortunately for me, he followed. I upped my walk to a brisk jog in order to beat him to the empty stall. Just as we both reached the door, the train came to an abrupt stop, sending us both crashing into it. The door banged shut behind us.

"For all that is good and holy in this world…" I muttered to myself as I shook the bathroom door. It was locked tight. I jangled with the lock for a moment before giving up. "I would be stuck with YOU in a bathroom stall."

Draco righted himself, standing quickly from the toilet seat. We were crunched in, my face barely a few inches from his chest. I held my breath, not wanting to smell his sharp cologne.

"If you weren't being such a bitch, Garcia, then we could have made this time worth our while."

I rolled my eyes at his comment, backing up against the stall wall until the toilet paper dispenser was digging uncomfortably into my lower back. Even then, that barely gave me an inch more room to work with. A crack accompanied with heavy footsteps just outside the stall door resonated through the corridor.

"What the hell is going on out there?" I asked mostly to myself as I tried to maneuver my body closer to the door. I stopped quickly when I realized I would have to get closer to Draco in order to press my ear against the door.

"Death eaters," Draco said shortly. Anger flashed across his face as he turned his head away from mine. If I wasn't mistaken, I thought I caught a glimpse of fear in his eyes.

"Check everything!" a muffled voice said from the other side of the door. A few more footsteps stomped away from the bathrooms. Gasps of surprise and horror echoed from the closest compartments before they were blocked out once again by the shutting of the compartment door.

"_Alohomora!" _

The bathroom door swung open, revealing a large, masked death eater blocking the only way out of the stall. He stared down at us for a moment before shaking his head.

"Can you let us out of here?" I asked quite snottily. "I'm stuck in a bathroom stall with the Blonde Boy Wonder with no thanks to-"

Draco placed a hand over my mouth for the hundredth time it felt like. The death eater let out a low growl before shutting the bathroom door and locking it once again.

"You and that mouth, Garcia," he sighed as he leaned against the bathroom wall. "You really need to control that-"

"I FOUND HER!" a low shout reverberated throughout the corridor, effectively cutting off Draco's lecture. A high pitched scream sent a shiver through my spine. Draco and I looked at each other in surprise.

"Not Luna!" I heard Neville shout. There was a scuffle before another loud bang, followed by the sound of the compartment door slamming. "LUNA!" Neville continued to yell as he banged on the glass. The locks clicked open and, without another look toward Draco, I rushed out of the stall and into the corridor.

Just in time to see a terrified Luna in the grasp of a large, bald death eater. The last thing I saw was a quick spin, followed by the whipping motion of her long, blonde hair and his black robes.

Then, she was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Mmm…so excited to be giving you chapter 11 right now!  
>Not even half way through yet!<strong>

**You all make me so happy with the messages and the reviews and the reading my story.**

**Anyways, more reviews! Let me know how you like it.  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

"What's on your agenda for today?"

I was laying on my bed back in the room my sister's boyfriend, Oliver Wood, had given me when I moved in. I had conspicuously tacked a poster of Aidan Lynch to the ceiling just above the bed, something that Oliver makes fun of me for every single day. I was staring into his dark, brooding Quidditch eyes while contemplating the disappearance of Luna a few days before.

"Kill myself," I sighed, not taking my eyes of the beautiful man above me. Oh the things I would do to him…

"Oh. Okay, but you have to help me with my homework first. I'm completely bombing Transfiguration theory already."

I lifted my head from my pillow, glaring at Padma's behind. My loose, dark locks were splayed out on the bed underneath me. "Why do I even talk to you?" I asked, seriously forgetting for a moment what I found so likable about Padma that I spent almost every waking moment with her. Because at that instant, I could think of a few good reasons to throttle her in her sleep.

"Because I don't scowl as much as Draco and my sense of humor is much peachier than Seamus," she threw over her shoulder. She was bent over her trunk, digging through clothes and tossing underwear all over the place. Seriously, Ravenclaws have no shame. None.

"Oh. Right," I sighed, reburying the back of my head into the pillow. I threw it back up a few seconds later to ask, "What are you doing anyways?"

"Looking for my lucky sugar quill." A pair of boy boxers came flying at my head and I nearly fell off the bed trying to avoid them.

"Your what?"

"S-u-g-a-r Q-u-i-l-l," she repeated slowly. "I swear it was in here last night." She whipped around, glaring. "Did you take it?"

"Wait," I said curiously, scooping up my loose hair from the back of my neck and piling it into a sad excuse for a bun on the top of my head, pinning it with the quill I had been using to start my charms essay before resuming my stare down with Hunks McGee on my ceiling. "Are we talking about that dirty, battered sugar quill that you always chew on whenever you start writing an essay because you think it gives you luck?" At her nod I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Padma. I stole your stinky, slobbery, trash-quill because I couldn't resist something covered in your saliva."

She stopped her glaring, recognizing sarcasm when she heard it, but sent me a disgruntled, huffy look that told me just how much she appreciated my flippancy in her time of crisis.

I was completely unsympathetic. "Well, whatever you're doing…just trying to keep your butt floss-" I pinched a pink thong between two fingers and threw it away from me as if it were on fire- "off my bed. I don't want to wake up with Scabies or anything."

This time she just ignored me.

It didn't matter though, because just then a new source of fun and enjoyment came slouching in looking grumpy and disheveled as she always did just after waking. Vanessa wasn't a morning person.

"Vanessa!" I cried as I ecstatically launched myself off the purple bedspread and tried to wrap my arms around her neck. I barely managed to catch myself as she stepped aside, allowing me to hit the ground without even attempting to break my fall. I pushed a clump of hair, which had come undone with me enthusiastic movements, out of my eyes in order to glare up at her from where I lay prone on the floor. "I see you're still fighting your passion. That is NOT healthy. Why don't you just-"

She moaned exasperatedly, throwing herself down onto my bed and flinging a well-toned arm over her eyes. "It's too early for this, Natalie. Just give me back my underwear."

I smiled contentedly, pulling myself off the floor and sliding on the bed next to my sister. "Are you sure you want them? I actually like this pair."

"Natalie…"

"Alright, alright. Merlin, cranky." I reached under my bed and rummaged around until I felt the soft texture of cloth beneath my fingers and sat back up, slapping the pair of bikini briefs over her face. "Party pooper."

This was met with a loud snore.

Padma just shook her head as continued to dig through her own trunk, this time minding where she tossed her undergarments. "So what were you saying about unhealthy habits? You seem to be having some sort of underwear fetish today."

I pulled the bikini briefs off Vanessa's face and threw them at Padma's head. They didn't reach their intended destination, however, because Vanessa snatched them from mid air with a quick swipe of her hand.

"Ah, come on V!" I complained

She sat up, pressing the palms of her hands into her eye sockets as if she were trying to make herself wake up. "You're such a creep. Though I still love you." She slowly rolled off the bed, landing on the wooden floor with a thunk. "What do you girls have planned for today? I have to be at work in an hour."

Padma let out an excited squeal as she thrust her half-chewed sugar quill into the air. I rolled my eyes and turned my head to look at my sister.

"I'm going to kill myself today."

Vanessa stared at me with a blank expression before glancing over to get a real answer from Padma.

"I thought we were going into Diagon Alley," she responded seriously as she crossed her legs and pushed herself off the floor. She quickly brushed off the sugar residue that fell into her lap when she pulled the quill from the bottom of her trunk. "Just to look around, shop, whatever."

"Yeah, right." Vanessa snorted as she threw her underwear over her shoulder in order to cross her arms over her chest. The look didn't do anything in the "let's have a serious conversation" category for me. "Listen, I know you're both of age and you think you're so adult, but I really think you should stay in. It's really dangerous out there if you don't be careful."

I narrowed my eyes at her as Padma smiled widely.

"Thanks for the advice, big sis, but I think we'll be fine. We have wands. We have magic frickin' powers. I think we'll be able to handle it."

Vanessa shrugged as she turned to leave the room. She paused in the doorway, her right hand rested gently on the wooden frame. "Just remember…the other side has magic too."

There was a moment of silence between Padma and me before I swung my legs over the bed and stood up. Grabbing a pair of jeans that were thrown haphazardly on the floor by Padma's sugar quill crusade, I shimmied by pajama bottoms off and pulled the jeans on, slightly losing my balance as I did so. "Okay, are you ready to go?" I asked Padma as I pulled a t-shirt off a lamp in the corner of the room.

Padma looked at me anxiously for a second before responding. "I think we should really take into account what your sister said. We don't know what's going on out there right now. I mean, we've only been home a few days and Luna-"

"Luna would be really upset if we didn't go out and have fun!" I exclaimed. Her anxious expression didn't change. I shoved my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. "Look, we can't stay holed in this apartment for the next few weeks. We have to get out and do something!"

"But Luna…"

I held up my hands to cut her off again. "We don't know where Luna is. If we had any clue, we would be able to do something."

Padma turned back to her trunk, muttering under her breath. I caught the words "Malfoy" and "something was up" as she dug through the mess, searching for some clothes.

"What did you say?" I snapped up my head to stare at her as I pinned a necklace around my neck.

She sighed as she stood from her kneeled position, whipping a wrinkled shirt around in the air a few times to try and get the creases out. "I said I bet Malfoy knew something was up with the Luna situation. And if you were still friends with him, then maybe we could figure it out."

I looked at her in disbelief. "You were the one saying that I should cut my ties with Malfoy. You've been saying for YEARS how bad of a person he is. And now you want me to be friends with him again?"

Padma shuffled around awkwardly looking for a pair of pants. "I just…I just think it was a bad time to start fights with him that's all. With the DA looking to you to have the inside Malfoy scoop…I just don't want you disappointing anyone."

After pulling on her own pants, she started to dig once again through her un-Padma-like mess before heaving a thick, folded piece of parchment from the inside of her book bag. She turned slowly to me, holding it out with her right hand.

"It's from Draco," she said quietly, not quite looking me in the eye. My heart caught in my chest. I took a deep breath before holding out my own hand to take it from her. "It came last night while you were in the shower. I wasn't going to give it to you, but then I started thinking…it would be a real asset to us if you were friends with him again. Just think about it, okay?"

I turned over the thick letter in my hand for a moment, contemplating opening it, before tossing it onto my bed casually. Padma looked at me, surprised.

"We have a fun day ahead of us." I shrugged as I swung my large purse over my shoulder. "I don't want to ruin it with thoughts of Malfoy. It can wait until later."

Padma offered up a small smile as she crossed the room and intertwined her arm within mine. As we began to spin, the last thing I glanced as we parted ways with the room was the off-white parchment thrown on the bed.

We whipped into Diagon Alley, stumbling slightly as we landed on an upturned stone. Padma laughed loudly as I went sailing into the brick wall that separated the alley from The Leaky Cauldron. She stopped immediately as her laugh resonated through the Alley, echoing eerily against the brick buildings.

"Uh, Padma…don't want to be a downer or anything. But did you apparate us to the right place?" I hissed at her as she pulled me up from the pile of wooden crates against the wall that I had landed in. "Because this is not Diagon Alley."

She glanced quickly through the empty alley, sweeping her eyes nervously across the boarded up windows. "This is it alright. You can see the bank at the end of the street."

I tucked my arm through hers, just in case, and we set off down the street to salvage some piece of the Alley that we recognized. The winter wind whipped through the street. It was something I hadn't ever realized whenever we came to Diagon Alley over Christmas break, but the lack of shoppers really made a difference.

Light snow started to fall gracefully from the sky, but it melted as soon as it hit the dirty cobblestone street.

"What the hell happened around here?" I said, mostly to myself. Flourish and Blotts was open, but the shopkeeper kept sending us anxious glances from inside the store. As we passed, he quickly flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED and pulled the blinds shut on the window.

Florean Fourtescue's Ice Cream Parlor looked like it had been ransacked. I peered in the cracks between the boards covering the window. The glass cover that hung over the ice cream flavors was smashed, its pieces spread onto the floor and into the freezers. The tables were overturned, chairs broken into small, cracked sections. There was a rather odd looking dark smear that warped the tiled flooring. I felt a shudder run up my spine as I pulled away from the window.

"Death eaters happened around here." Padma pulled her scarf over her mouth as the wind began to howl between the buildings. Old wooden signs that usually showcased the names of the shops were blowing dangerously in the blustery weather. A few of the signs were hanging arbitrarily on one peg.

As we continued down the Alley, the usually picturesque shopping area didn't get any better. The few people we did see hurried in between stores, keeping their heads down and refusing to make eye contact with anyone, including store owners. Rats and feral cats lined the empty garbage cans, knocking them over and rummaging through as if they would find something new.

We went as far as the Weasley Wizard Wheezes, which I had been looking forward to since the beginning of Christmas Break. I needed a restock of some joke products. The windows were boarded up, the door locked. Though, the inside didn't appear to be ransacked, it was obvious that no one had been there in quite some time. The weird half-man that sat on the top of the awning was staring, unmoving with his hat raised above his head. The rabbit was covered in cobwebs that spanned from the man's mouth and up into his hat.

"Let's just get out of here," Padma said apprehensively, she glanced around the Alley again to make sure no one was following us. "This place is really giving me the creeps."

I stepped down from the stoop that led to the front door of the store, dusting my hands off on the thighs of my jeans. I let out a disappointed sigh before turning back to my best friend.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just-"

Padma let out a terrified shriek. It echoed through the street once again, this time much more eerily than the bark of laughter did. My heart started to race as I glimpsed a woman's scraggly hand cupped around Padma's upper arm. The woman peeked over her shoulder, showing off a set of yellowing crooked teeth.

"My darlings…my darlings…come into the other Alley…" She whispered into Padma's ear. The wind carried her voice, making it appear much louder than she was. She gestured with her other hand toward Knockturn Alley, where a pair of women were leering at us from the shadows. "No need to be frightened…oh no…oh no…"

I shakily reached into my back pocket and whipped out my wand. Pointing it shakily at the woman, I said, "Get your hands off my best friend."

The woman's face broke out into a wide smile, showcasing her rotting teeth even more. I worked hard not to pull a face of disgust. "We don't mean no harm…oh no…oh no…two pretty girls should have protection when out…oh yes…oh yes…" The woman used her free hand to pull on a silver chain that hung loosely around her neck.

On the end of the chain was a turquoise amulet. It glowed from the inside out when she placed a finger on the gem. "You need this…for protection…from them." Her eyes broadened as she balanced the gem on her pointer finger, holding it up for me to see. Padma's eyes were squeezed shut at this point. "Only five galleons…I swears…it works."

I hitched my wand back up to point at the woman's chest. My eyes narrowed into a glare. "Hands off her or I'll take your hands off you," I growled. The woman's smile dropped quickly from her face as she eyed the wand. Her face became set in a dangerous frown.

"You wouldn't be so stupid," she spat, showering Padma with flecks of saliva. Padma dramatically wiped her cheek, sending the woman a disgusted glare. Something inside my best friend must have snapped, as she turned quickly and pushed the woman's hand off her arm.

The woman removed her talon-like fingers quickly, more so surprised at the sudden movement. Padma lurched forward, grabbing onto my wrist with sudden force and twisted, taking me with her. The woman's glaring face whipped away from view, streaking into the background of the rundown Alley.

We stumbled once again as we landed in Oliver's living room. Padma fell over the black coffee table that sat in the middle of the room and I laughed loudly as I leaned over to help her up. I had a feeling of relief as the laugh didn't echo eerily throughout the apartment.

"I am never going there again!" Padma stated with a shudder. "Did you see that woman's fingernails? I'm going to have to disinfect my arm for at least the next week and a half."

I pulled my best friend into a tight hug, effectively cutting off her rant. She was shocked at the affection. I usually wasn't a huggy-huggy kind of person.

"What was that for?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I took an embarrassed step away. "Just glad that we're okay. I don't want to go back there either. It was too creepy."

We both let out nervous laughs that quickly turned into real laughs, that in turn quickly turned into roars of laughter that sent tears of amusement streaming down our faces.

"Only that would happen to us!" Padma said shrilly as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. My laughter ceased as a series of taps against the window sent us staring at each other in terror. We launched ourselves behind the nearest sofa, fighting over the space.

"You go look!" I hissed as I tried to shove her out into the open. She vehemently refused as she tried to pull me over her lap and into the middle of the living room.

"Quit being such a baby!" she whispered. "It's probably not that woman, who followed us and is going to murder us with her talons!"

I rolled my eyes as I stopped pushing her. "Oh, this is ridiculous!" I stood up from behind the sofa, turning slowly to look out the living room window. "Padma! It's just an owl!" I climbed over the back of the piece of furniture, hopping off the cushion casually. "I told you it was nothing to worry about!"

Padma grumbled under her breath as she placed both hands on the back of the couch and pulled herself up to a standing position. I headed over to the window and unlatched it quickly. The winter wind blew in with the large bird. It flew over to Padma and dropped the letter onto her head before making a large sweep of the apartment and flying back out before I even had time to shut the window.

"Who's it from?" I asked after latching the lock on the window. Padma's eyes were sweeping the parchment, her face slowly breaking out into a large smile. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with joy.

"It's Parvati! She's at Lavender's right now. She's coming back to school!"


	12. Chapter 12

**My writer's block is off the chain so I completely apologize for my lack of updates as of lately! I can't believe how much I've dropped the ball on this. Anyways, hopefully you readers are still out there! **

**Here is chapter 12…finally.  
>If you could review, that would make my day complete! <strong>

**Read and enjoy!**

"And I promise you…" Padma slurred as she leaned forward, pitching her head intensely toward mine. In order to keep her from clubbing me in the forehead with her own noggin, I whipped my neck backward more quickly than I meant to. The ceiling above me started to spin violently. I laughed. "I promise to alwaysss be your best fwiend. I mean it…best. Fweind."

I tilted my head forward again as Padma took another shot of firewhisky. She shook her head back and forth as the alcohol ran down her throat. Her eyes pinched shut as the burn took effect at the back of her mouth. She slammed down the shot glass, pointing her wand at it shakily. It refilled with whiskey from the large bottle sitting between us.

The amber liquid barely moved from the gallon-large glass.

"And I promise you…" I said sternly as I watched Padma lock her lips around the opening of the shot glass. "I promise to…" I started to giggle aloud, breaking up the sentence. "I promise to…hell I can't promise anything right now."

Seamus, who sat in the third seat surrounding the small kitchen table whooped as he grabbed the large glass bottle and started to chug the alcohol straight.

"THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN NEW YEARS WITH FERGUS!" he yelled at the ceiling as he spread out his arms to each side of his body.

The three of us cheered as Padma and I clinked our shot glasses.

"Oh Merlin they're piss drunk," Vanessa groaned from the living room, where her and Oliver were seated on the couch. "I can't believe you would buy them firewhiskey!"

Oliver sucked in his toned stomach to avoid the backhand Vanessa had sent his way. He laughed as he threw an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to his body. He smiled before planting a kiss on the top of her head. "You can't blame me, love. They've had the worst Christmas break imaginable."

Vanessa shrugged as she glanced behind her once again to see the three at the table roaring with laughter.

"Wait…wait. I got it," Padma declared as she stood from the chair, clutching the edge of the table for balance. "Let's start a betting pool! On the fate of Amycus by the end of the year!"

Seamus slammed the table with his fist as he choked out a fit of laughter. "I'm calling dismemberment. His arm gets slashed off by that giant Hagrid tried to hide in the Forbidden Forest!"

"What's he gonna do with the arm?" I asked innocently as I wrapped my pointer finger around Padma's shot glass and pulled it toward me. "Stick it up his nose?"

"No," Seamus said darkly as he rested his elbow on the table. "He's gonna eat it…for breakfast!"

Padma rolled her eyes as she stole the shot glass as I was about to toss the liquid back into my mouth. I whimpered as she whipped it down with a quick swig. "An arm…for breakfast…the guy would need to eat Amycus whole!"

Seamus appeared genuinely scandalized at the idea. "We can't kill off Amycus. What fun would that be?"

"I'd like to kill Amycus…" I muttered darkly, glaring into the empty shot glass Padma slammed down in front of me. My two best friends went quiet. Seamus drooped back into his seat. The chair wobbled dangerously at his weight shift.

Vanessa and Oliver went silent as well, both of them looking at each other with meaningful, worry-filled expressions. I had told them about the detentions, the torturing, using first years as practice dummies. Vanessa wanted to pull me from school as soon as the stories started pouring out, but Oliver wouldn't hear it.

"She needs to finish school," he had yelled at Vanessa. Padma and I had perched ourselves outside of their bedroom, pressing our ears against the door. "I understand that it's hard, but they only have six months left."

Padma patted me on the back as I rested my chin in the palm of my hand. She knew firsthand the damage I wanted to do to Amycus and Alecto. After receiving the letter from her sister, Parvati, Padma wrote back swiftly, begging Parvati not to come to Hogwarts.

_It's already done. I'm re-registered.  
>I told Snape that I had a religious ceremony in India that I had to attend.<br>The ministry and the headmaster accepted my excuse.  
>They're expecting me back on the third of January.<em>

Padma now had two things to worry about for the last half of her seventh year- her best friend, Natalie, and her sister, Parvati.

"Come on," Padma finally said as she stumbled toward the hallways. "We need to have some more fun! We go back to school in two days! I'll be…I'll be right back!" She placed a hand on the wall to keep herself from pitching forward.

I shrugged as I turned to the bottle of firewhiskey, filling my shot glass once more with the amber alcohol. Seamus , in turn, took another swig straight from the bottle.

My best friend returned a few minutes later with a quill and a piece of parchment. On the top, in messy, drunken handwriting read:

_Hogwarts, A Defilement_

"I see what you did there." Seamus grinned as he pointed out the top of the parchment. "You changed the name of the textbook we were required to buy first year. I never did read that…"

Padma shushed him quickly as she placed the parchment on the table, smoothing it out. She set the quill at an angle next to it. "We are going to make a list of things to do at Hogwarts before the year is over!" she proclaimed. "Consider it a school bucket list!" She picked up the quill once again. "Let me start."

_I will tye-dye all the owls in the owlery, especially Draco Malfoy's._

I grinned sloppily up at my best friend, imagining the look on Malfoy's face when he realized his former black, eagle owl was the colors of a bad sixties t-shirt. I stole the quill from Padma's hand and scribbled down my own declaration.

_I will replace Professor Snape's pumpkin juice with skele-gro._

Seamus let out a bark of laughter as I set down the quill, smirking at the work of art in front of me. "You have a dark, twisted mind Garcia! But I think I can do one better." He grabbed the quill and turned the parchment toward him, covering his writing with the other hand until he finished.

_I will enchant the telescopes to display non-existent constellations during the O.W.L and N.E.W.T exams._

Padma snorted as I took another shot of firewhiskey. "You're going to enchant what?" I teased him after the involuntary, drunken shiver ran up my spine. "More like blow it up. Let me see that!"

And on the list went, becoming more off the wall as time went on and the stash of firewhiskey dwindled.

_I will dye the death eater's robes pink!_

_I will claim Lucius Malfoy is my sugar daddy, especially when Draco is within earshot._

_I will test my potion's assignments by spiking Alecto's drink with them._

_I will find Neville's toad and kiss him, hoping for my prince charming to come to life._

_I will provide Peeve's with a case of dungbombs, knowing that it is socially irresponsible._

_I will use a polyjuice potion to turn into Draco Malfoy and profess my undying love for high-heeled shoes, glitter, and Harry Potter in the Great Hall._

"I bet he already does that!" Seamus laughed loudly as I set the quill down once more. We had a substantial amount of things to accomplish once school was back in session. Padma and I smirked at each other as I folded up the parchment and tucked it into the back pocket of my jeans.

"Hey! You three! Two minutes until midnight," Vanessa said excitedly as she rushed past us. "Did you really finish that whole- oh never mind." She waved behind her casually as she reached into one of the kitchen cabinets, pulling down five wine glasses and setting them quickly on the counter. She spun around and pulled a large wine bottle from the fridge, uncorked it, and poured some into each glass. In her hurry, she sloshed some of the white wine onto the granite countertop. "Come on! Hurry and grab a glass! Less than a minute now!"

On her command, we rushed over and each grabbed a glass. I linked an arm with Padma as she linked an arm with Oliver. We all stood in a circle, linked together as we counted down together…

"Three, two, one!"

We unlinked hands and toasted the New Year. Oliver and Vanessa sipped their wine gracefully as the three of us, still sloshed from earlier that evening, drained our wine glasses with one quick swoop. Vanessa grimaced at the sight.

"You three are going to need to enter a rehab program after tonight."

We laughed aloud, waving off her jab as Oliver leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips. It was the first time I had felt free since the beginning of the school year. I smiled and laughed again as Seamus pitched forward and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on my cheek.

"You're my best friend…" he slurred as he slapped a hand onto Padma's shoulders. "Both of you are…and when I find Dean…we'll be best friends forever…together…" He stumbled backward, tripping over his own two feet and falling onto the kitchen floor. He held two thumbs up into the air, grinning broadly from the wooden floor.

"I have one more thing I need to do," Oliver announced loudly as he twisted to set the wine glass down on the granite counter top. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black, velvet box. Vanessa gasped in surprise as he kneeled down in front of her.

"Vanessa Garcia. I have loved you every single day since you poured that drink on my head in the bar. I've loved our talks, I've loved our dates, I've loved getting to know you and your family. I even love you more than Quidditch." He popped open the box, revealing a beautiful, sparkling diamond ring. "And I would love to continue to love you every day for the rest of my life. Vanessa, will you marry me?"

I screamed joyfully as she nodded her head, tears of happiness clouding up her eyes. Padma started to clap vigorously as Seamus whooped from his position on the floor. Evidently he was still too drunk to get up on his own.

"You know what this means right?" I asked Vanessa as I pulled her into a tight hug.

"No, you still don't get to play with a baby yet," she scolded me as she slapped the back of my head playfully. "That won't be happening for some time."

"Noooo," I said, a smirk playing on my lips. "Since he is a part of the family…let the Oliver Wood jokes begin."

"You wouldn't…" Oliver began dangerously. "I've already heard every possible joke about my name."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

Vanessa stepped between us, placing a hand on Oliver's chest. "Let's just let it go, shall we? How was your firewhiskey anyways? Did you have a good time drinking it all?"

I shrugged my shoulder. "It was pine…I mean fine. Merlin, I WOOD be able to talk if it wasn't for all that beechy…I mean peachy firewhiskey you let us drink."

Padma slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as Seamus let out a loud snort. Vanessa sighed as she stepped away, leaving a big gap between Oliver and myself.

"You went there," he glared as he set the ring box onto the counter. He lunged for me playfully as I turned and sprinted from the room, tripping over Seamus in the process. Seamus let out a yell of pain. I accidently kicked him in the ribs.

I don't know why I wasn't expecting Oliver to have such quick reflexes. He did play professional quidditch after all. He made a grab at me, locking his fingers around my arm as I charged into my room. I managed to kick him in the shins, giving me enough time to slide my arm out of his surprised grasp. I slammed the bedroom door, locking it quickly behind me.

"You're barking mad!" I half-chuckled, half-yelled through the door. I heard a few shouts of laughter from the kitchen. A tap on the glass shocked me from my own laughing fit. I spun around to the window, my eyes widening when I spotted the all-too familiar black, eagle owl sitting on the sill outside. I fought a smile as I thought of Padma's bucket list in the back pocket of my jeans.

I walked over to the window, slowly unclasping the lock when I reached it. The owl didn't bother to fly in, but instead stuck his leg into the room. I took that as a hint to take the letter. The envelope, addressed to me, wasn't too thick. I quickly untied it from the owl's leg. It took off as soon as the last knot was undone.

I shut the window, not allowing anymore of the cool, winter draft to blow into the room. I fingered the letter for a moment, remembering the first letter he sent me only a week before. I hadn't opened that one either, instead choosing to pitch it into the fireplace in Oliver's living room.

After another moment of deliberation, I stuck my little finger into a gap in the envelope, tearing it open at the top. I took a deep breath as I took out the small piece of parchment and unfolded it. The familiar scent of him overtook me as I began to read.

_We need to talk. Please.  
>On the train back to Hogwarts. 1:30 in the back carriage.<br>Come find me._

_-D_

I let out the breath I had been holding in, my chest fell slowly as my brain unclouded. Draco wanted to talk. Draco was basically begging me to talk. I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I sank onto the bed, the letter clutched in my hands as I weighed my decision. It was only two days away, but it felt like a lifetime. My heart slammed against my chest as I tucked the letter under my pillow. Once Padma had sobered up…maybe I would ask her….maybe.


	13. Chapter 13

**Why hello everyone! It's been quite awhile…I know I'm awful. I hope I still have some readers out there who have wanted some updates! Long story short, my computer died…taking everything I had written with it. Just now had the money to buy a new one. **

**Anyways, I'm going to be updating much more frequently now…I hope.**

**This one is kind of short because I'm trying to get in the groove of writing again. **

**Remember: READ, REVIEW, and ENJOY! **

"Are you crazy?" Padma screeched as soon as we reached the empty compartment Neville had picked out for us. She was rubbing the newly created bump near her hairline, glowering at me with surprising resentment. "You're meeting him in 20 minutes! Was it absolutely necessary to physically run away?"

I threw my bag haphazardly onto the floor before collapsing in a heap of exhaustion on the cushioned bench.

"It was, Padma. It really was. He was trying to TALK TO ME. Do you know what that's like?" I reached into my bag and pulled out an unopened box of chocolate frogs, ripping open the packaging with brutal force. "I don't want to talk to him anymore than I already have to."

Seamus rolled his eyes as he entered the compartment. He dropped onto the bench next to me, shoving his feet under my body. I shuddered as a few drops of melted snow shimmied off his shoes and onto my bare skin.

"You don't have to talk to him at all," he muttered as he pulled the newest Daily Prophet. Ever since Luna's disappearance he had taken it upon himself to research the whereabouts of his best friend, Dean. So far, no luck. "Ever."

The three of us turned to look at Neville, who was staring blankly out the window. Evergreen trees topped with white snow whizzed by, but I don't think Neville even noticed. To be honest, I don't think Neville had been with us (mentally, that is) since Luna's disappearance.

"Huh? What?" he said as he looked over his shoulder at us. The blank look quickly turned into one of confusion as he took in our meaningful expressions.

"We were just discussing if Natalie should meet with Draco. Evidently he has some important topic of conversation that couldn't be doled out via owl."

Neville just shrugged before turning to gaze out the window once again. The three of us went silent for a moment, avoiding eye contact with each other.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, go talk to Draco'," I said quietly before ripped the paper from Seamus' hands. New disappearances, new murders, muggle families tortured. Same news, different day. I sighed before dropping the paper back into his lap.

Usually Luna would have something to say about the killings, about the disappearances, about the tortures. She would usually say something completely irrelevant to the issue, but somehow always managed to make us feel better.

Now, there was an empty, silent gap in the compartment that no one knew how to fill.

"I'll take that as a 'no, don't go talk to Draco,'" Seamus butted in rather nastily. Ever since the letter from Draco made its way to me on New Year's Eve, he had been quite touchy whenever the subject came up. It didn't help that Padma called it his "man period" every time.

"She can do what she wants!" Padma finally exclaimed. "She is a big girl. She can make her own decisions." I sent her a grateful smile before she added, "But seriously, I don't think it's a good idea either. You have better and more important things to do than talk to that. Like, those five thousand lines you handily forgot about until last night.

I glowered at her before pushing myself off the bench. "I'm going to figure out what he wants. He probably won't stop until I talk to him anyways." Seamus, smartly, didn't say anything as I made my way out of the compartment for the second time in twenty minutes.

Using the wall for balance, I walked toward the end of the train, glancing quickly out of any passing windows at the scenery outside. Judging by the looks of the small villages and fields we were trundling by, there was still a substantial amount of time before we would even consider putting our uniforms on.

My heart started to ram against my rib cage as I neared the end of the train. A compartment on the left, the last one nearest to the bathrooms, had its drapes closed tight. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I lifted my hand to open the door. I felt little beads of sweat work its way onto my forehead as the anticipation of the first real conversation with Draco drew nearer.

I grabbed onto the handle and slid open the door quickly, taking a step into the room before I even brought my eyes up to bench level.

"I just wanted to say that- AHH MY EYES!"

Two fifth year Hufflepuffs had made their way into the back compartment and had, stealthily might I add, closed the compartment curtains. And trust me, it was for good reason. The girl gasped in horror as the boy whipped around, wand in hand, and sent a jinx flying in my direction. I ducked quickly and went to slam the compartment door shut, but tripped on the metal runner (twisting my ankle in the process) instead.

An arm snaked around my waist and pulled me to a standing position before releasing me. I was steady for all of two seconds before my legs buckled and the arm returned, gentle but firm enough to keep me from sliding on the floor in a puddle of my own humiliation.

"Detention and twenty points from Hufflepuff!" A familiar voice above me resounded. "And put some pants on. If she wanted to see something of value, she would have come to me."

I managed not to roll my eyes as the arm around my waist led me to the compartment across the hall. The door slid open, revealing an empty (thank Merlin) room with empty (again, my eyes will never be the same) benches lining the walls.

Draco set me down gently on one the cushioned benches before kneeling on the floor in front of me, taking a rather odd interest in my swollen ankle.

"Well, I'll never look at Hufflepuffs the same again," I snorted loudly, trying to break the awkward silence. It didn't work so well, as we were both silent for another minute or so after the fact.

"Are you alright?" the deep, soft voice asked from somewhere above my ankle. I wondered if he was talking softly because that was his natural tone, or because he feared for my mental health and didn't want to upset me. The hesitation was understandable. I wasn't so sure about my sanity anymore either.

I mumbled something that I wouldn't exactly classify as English, but came close enough for both our satisfactions. He set my ankle back down on the cushioned bench, leaving a trail of tingles that shot up my leg as he removed his hand. He swiftly sat onto the bench opposite me.

That feeling of positive emotions for this boy that rolled back into body scared the living daylights out of me. I didn't want them, no, I definitely didn't want them. I shot up quickly, ignoring his affronted facial expression as I tried to stand. Pain immediately replaced the tingly feeling as my ankle, once again, gave out. I tried to reach out and grab the bench for balance, but instead fell backward, planting my butt on the worn-down carpet.

Draco quickly got up and stood in front of me, his hand extended down to help me up. This was getting ridiculous. Where was the Malfoy I was used to? I glared at it. He continued to wait patiently for my hand.

"Look buddy," I said, glaring harder at the offending hand, "I know you're not a mind-reader, so I'll cut you some slack and let you in on the fact that I'm seriously contemplating pushing you into that acid-spewing moat Fred and George Weasley built in our fifth year for that scare you just gave me. So putting one of our vital extremities within mangling distance probably isn't the wisest idea." There was a pause that made me realize Draco Malfoy wasn't too bright to begin with so I went on with a simple, "Remove the hand."

"I really would rather help you," Malfoy insisted. I was so shocked to hear that it was mellow-sounding, even after I threatened to remove one of his appendages. If his hand were multiplying from the brandishes of pain shooting up my leg, I would have done something very mean to his hand just to stop the wave of calm acceptance coming-

Waaaaaaait a minute. Calm acceptance? Since when did a Malfoy know anything, or feel anything, remotely close to calm acceptance? I rubbed my eyes vigorously for a few seconds before peering into his face.

The blonde hair was the same, hanging in front of his face as he leaned toward me. The seeker-built body was the same, complete with defined muscles under his Head Boy uniforms. Hell, even his sigh of oncoming impatience was the same as he started to drop the nice guy act.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" he asked, tilting his head to the side sweetly. Yes. Sweetly.

Instead of saying what I really wanted to say, which was, "What kind of dragon dust are you snorting?" I extended my own hand and allowed him to help me up to my feet.

It took all of my willpower and a few mental messages to my brain to help it remember the function of legs (stand, bend, walk, etc…) to keep me from face-planting into the carpet. This new found Malfoy stared down at me with an expression of serenity of his face.

Something deep inside me had the urge to poke him in the eye, just to see what he would do. Probably thank me and ask if I would be so kind as to kick him in the groin next.

He assisted me to the bench, this time making sure to sit next to me (and strategically in front of the door). Once I was settled in, he lifted my foot onto his lap and began to analyze the swelling.

I sighed quietly, cocking my head to get a good look at him. When he decidedly ignored my gesture, I began. "Draco, what did you want to meet with me for? I thought we were clear in the fact that this…whatever it is…is over."

He set his warm hands onto my ankle, gently massaging the sore spot as he stared at the floor in thought.

"I just…I don't want this to be over," he said slowly, as if the words coming out of his mouth were physically paining him. "I had time to think over Christmas…about a few things." He paused another moment, this time putting a firm grip onto my ankle. I winced slightly, but kept my lips tightly shut. I wanted to hear what he had to say. "And I realized that…if I stay on that side…on the side of my family…I can't have you."

The words cut deeply into my heart, searing a new yet familiar feeling of love into the depths of my chest.

"And I realized that you are insane. Certifiably crazy. And you say things that are incredibly inappropriate and that get you, along with others, into massive problems, but…that's the one thing I missed the most about not speaking the last few weeks."

He removed his hands swiftly from my leg and placed two fingers under my chin, forcing me to look into his piercing gray eyes.

"I missed you, Natalie. I missed all of you. I don't want to do this anymore." He leaned forward, as if he wanted to do this before he changed his mind, and planted his soft lips onto mine.


	14. Chapter 14

**Seems like I'm getting better at this uploading thing already! I'm making an effort…so bare with me! Well, here is chapter 14. Long awaited…I know. Thank you so much to everyone who has been so patient with me the past few weeks. I promise I'll get better.**

**Anyways, on to the chapter!  
>As always: Read, review, and enjoy!<strong>

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Seamus hissed up to me as we lined up in the Great Hall, per Snape's request. I hadn't bothered telling Seamus about my reunion with Malfoy for this very reason. Unfortunately, Padma didn't feel the same way. "You and Malfoy are…whatever…again? Don't you have any common sense?"

Padma had, smartly, placed herself in between us in the line of seven. Looking around the Hall in a panicky sort of way, she shushed us for the hundredth time in ten minutes as Snape took the front of the room.

"As many of you may already know," he began slowly, taking everyone's immediate attention as soon as he started speaking, "Harry Potter has been labeled as Undesirable Number One-"

"How can you do that to yourself?" Seamus whispered angrily, leaning past Padma to get as close to me as he possibly could. "You deserve someone much better. Don't you remember everything he's done to you?"

I whipped around in defense, glaring at him with as much force as I could muster. "Don't you think I know that, crazy? Everyone deserves a second chance!"

Seamus scoffed as he nearly pushed Padma aside in his haste to retort. "Yeah, a second. Not a third, fourth, or fifth."

With no response to his accusation, I turned back around to face Snape, sticking my nose in the air to show my dislike for my other best friend at the moment. I heard Seamus jeer angrily at my immaturity, but I didn't care.

Like Padma said, I was seventeen years old. I could make grown up decisions regarding my love life.

"-If anyone has information on the whereabouts of Undesirable Number One, you are to come forward-"

"And another thing!"

I audibly groaned as Seamus stealthily switched places with Padma in order to talk to me more efficiently. A few people glanced toward us uncertainly, not wanting us to cause un-wanted attention from the professors in the room- particularly the Carrows.

"Don't you want to be happy? Don't you want to have a normal relationship with a normal boy who is, oh, not on the side that wants to destroy all of humanity!"

I glared at the back of the student's head in front of me, trying very hard not to grind my teeth. I leaned back to talk to him, not wanting to cause any disruptions in Snape's bi-weekly "Where is Potter?" speech.

"He said he didn't want to be on that side anymore! He said he wanted to be with me instead."

"And you believed him? This is Malfoy we're talking about. He only wants to shag you and then leave you. Obviously you are the only girl in this entire school he has yet to do that to!"

I whipped around once again with a very loud and inappropriate comment on the tip of my tongue, but Padma quickly intervened.

"Hey, chit and chat! Pipe down will ya? We're kind of in the middle of an important assembly!"

Unfortunately, my sudden movement had already caught the attention of a Carrow, Alecto to be exact. She made her way toward us quickly, moving faster than I've ever seen anyone of her size and stature move. A rather maniacal grin was plastered on her face by the time she reached us.

"Is we interruptin' your private conversation?" she barked, effectively cutting off Snape at the front of the room. I managed to remain dignified as the entire student population turned around to see what the fuss was all about. I glared at Seamus before replying with quick shake of the head. "Good," she went on, her grin spreading over her pudgy face. "Then I'll see you and beanpole in detention tomorrow night."

I let out a long breath of anger as Snape dismissed the Hall. I hitched my bag higher up onto my shoulder, ignoring Seamus' apologies as I rushed into the corridor and as far from him as I possibly could.

In my haste, I almost missed the concerned look Malfoy shot me from across the room.

"Nat! NAT!" Neville had to speed walk in order to keep up with me, which was saying something considering my short legs. I didn't bother slowing down. The very last thing I wanted to do was be late for Muggle Studies. "Geeze, you walk fast. Anyways, I couldn't help but overhear your detention assignment with Alecto-"

"You and the rest of the school," I sighed as I slowed down a bit, having placed a good distance between myself and the rest of the seventh years.

Neville squirmed uncomfortably as we stopped in front of the locked classroom. Fortunately, we were the first ones there. "Yeah, about that. Natalie…with your new situation…do you think it's still a good idea to turn in that essay? I mean, I know the rest of the seventh years in the DA did it too, but you're already in a heap of trouble and-"

I groaned in response, slumping against the stone wall in resignation. "I completely forgot about that damn essay," I said softly, running my fingers through my curly, dark locks. "Now I'm going to have to turn it in. It's either that or no essay at all."

Neville furrowed his brow in apprehension, but didn't say anything aloud. Seventh years had begun to gather around us, throwing sharp glances at me for disturbing the peace in the mandatory assembly.

"Stupid, filthy mudblood lover," Pansy snickered at me as she made her way toward the classroom door. "That's what you get for being a blood traitor!"

Neville grabbed my upper arm as I turned to retaliate. I mentally thanked him for that, considering Alecto threw open the door not even a second later.

"In," she demanded of the class and we filed in quietly, making sure to avoid eye contact with her at all costs.

I trekked toward a seat in the back corner, not feeling up to socializing with other DA members at this point. I knew what was about to happen and it was not going to be pretty. Padma set her stuff down quietly next to the table we shared before pulling out the chair, scraping it nosily against the stone floor.

"Seamus feels really bad, you know," she said slowly, watching my facial expression carefully, "He really didn't mean to get you both in that much trouble. He wants to make it up to you."

I wanted to say "He can't" and glare with all my might toward him, but instead I played with the feather on the end of my quill, choosing not to respond to Padma's statement. She took that as an end to the conversation, so she pulled out her essay and turned to the front of the room.

I sat and stared at the stone wall opposite me while Alecto swirled her wand, sending all the Muggle essays flying toward her. My own essay ripped open from my bag, flying toward her with remarkable speed. For once I considered body slamming the parchment to the ground in order for Alecto not to see it.

I figured that would be more suspicious though.

"Let's see how much you have learned this year," Alecto started with a sneer as she rifled through the papers, dumping half of them in the trash next to her desk as she went. I wrinkled my brow. What was the point of writing the essays if she wasn't even going to bother reading them? "We'll start with this one…" She pulled a piece of parchment from the middle of the stack before clearing her throat.

"_Muggles are non- magical people who have just as much talent and power as wizards_," she started, her eyes bugging out angrily as she continued, "_They work hard to get where they need to be, which is something we should admire considering they aren't magical at all. If we were to annihilate muggles from our world, then it would become dark and meaningless, much like it is now with Moldywart in power-"_

She stopped short, raking her eyes over the top of the essay. I closed my eyes, pressing my palms to my forehead. My heart beat heavily, drumming against the inside of my rib cage as if it were begging to come out.

Alecto would pick up my essay and read it to the class.

"Garcia!"

I opened my eyes and looked up toward her, only to see that she was pointing her wand directly at me already. My moment of hesitation was just enough for her to send a malicious Cruciatus curse in my direction, blowing me clean off the seat.

My back cracked nastily against the stone wall, I felt the back of my head dribble with blood as she let the curse off for a moment. There were gasps of shock and horror going around the classroom, sans Pansy, who had a glittery smile plastered on her pug-like face.

Alecto rammed her way through the desks to get closer, lifting her wand up once more at me.

"_Crucio!"_

I let out a scream of protest as the curse hit me square in the chest, forcing my back up against the stone wall once again. The curse rippled under my skin as if every bone in my body was breaking. A sob escaped my lips as the curse became stronger, throwing me every which way as if I were a rag doll.

"Stop!" I heard Padma cry out as she leapt out of her seat. "Stop! You're going to kill her!"

Alecto let out a maniacal laugh as she strengthened the curse once more. I was on the verge of blacking out. I mentally begged my mind to shut down.

"That's what the little bitch gets! Hasn't learned a damn thing. What a fool."

There was a loud scraping against the floor, as if someone had roughly pushed their chair back. Then, a howl of dispute before the curse was lifted indefinitely from my body. I stayed slumped against the wall, tired and worn down, as the curse had sapped every ounce of energy from my body.

"Seamus! No!"

There was a collective gasp from the room as I glanced over at my estranged best friend. He had managed to wrestle Alecto's wand out of her hand and had thrown it across the classroom. Silence set in on the seventh years. There was a triumphant smile on his face before it was, literally, beaten off him.

Alecto had reeled back and punched him twice in the face.

My mouth fell open as I gaped at the scene before me. Seamus fell backward, blood spewing from his mouth, nose, and cheek. She straightened up, clenching her reddened fist as if trying to squeeze the soreness from it.

"Class dismissed," she snapped before lumbering across the room to retrieve her wand. Everyone in the room stayed perfectly still for a moment, staring at me against the wall and Seamus clutching his face on the floor. Then, as if everyone had decided to move in sync, book bags were gathered and the room cleared at top speed.

Neville and Ernie squatted down to help Seamus to his feet while Lavender, Padma, and Parvati came to my aid. With the three girls' help, I managed to stagger to my feet.

"Put her arm over my shoulder," Padma said to Lavender quietly. I felt my arm be lifted and set down gently onto my best friend. "I don't know how we're going to get her out of here. She's barely walking!"

Parvati stifled a sob as she turned to glance between myself and Seamus. "Has it been like this all year?" she asked as she placed a hand over her mouth. Padma nodded, a look of pure distress on her face. Her twin sister let out a breath filled with helplessness as she watched her two classmates suffer.

"Patil, Brown. Hold on a second."

Padma scoffed in surprise as Malfoy crossed the room, evidently sure of what he wanted to do. "What do you want, Malfoy? Didn't seem like you were too concerned when this was all happening."

Malfoy rolled his eyes at my best friend. "Get off your high horse, Patil. You did nothing but scream. Finnigan over there is the idiot. Got himself punched in the face by a girl. Twice."

Luckily, Seamus was well out of hearing distance and Neville pointedly ignored the jab at his fellow Gryffindor.

"You three can't carry her across the damn castle." Draco shoved his book bag into Lavender's hands before bending down and placing one arm behind my knees, one arm around my waist and scooping me up with ease. "Where do you want me to take her? It's probably unwise for her to be in the Slytherin common room at this point."

"Room of Requirement!" Padma said quickly, turning to scramble toward Neville to give him the directions. "You know where that is, right?"

An awkward silence fell upon the group as everyone remembered what exactly happened in the Room of Requirement last year, with much thanks to Mr. Malfoy himself.

"Just go," he muttered, hitching me up farther onto his chest. "I'll follow." Padma nodded quickly before jogging to catch up with Seamus, Ernie, and Neville. I knew my best friend pretty well. This time, I knew she wanted everyone she cared about in one place.

I rested my sore head against his broad shoulder and I could have sworn a kiss brushed over my forehead. "It's going to be okay," he mumbled softly into my ear as his voice became farther and farther away. I allowed the darkness to drag me down this time. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

I awoke with a start later that evening with voices whispering around my head. I sat up slowly, not wanting to rush the pain I knew I would inevitably be feeling soon.

"Everyone! Hey! She's awake!"

I groaned at the loudness of the voice, clutching the back of my head as it began to throb.

"Shhh! You idiot! Don't yell in her ear!" Padma hissed to Seamus, who had the dignity to plaster an embarrassed smile on his face. "Anyways, how are you feeling Nat? Can I get you something?"

I shook my head, immediately regretting it as another throb of pain shot up my back. "What the hell happened?"

Padma's grin faltered. "Do you- do you remember anything?"

I racked my brain, trying to remember the last thing that happened. "I remember you and Lavender trying to carry me from the classroom. And that's it. Why? What happened?"

"Your knight in shining armor happened," Seamus scoffed, dodging hits from Lavender, Parvati, and Padma. Neville smirked knowingly, but decided to stay neutral on this topic of conversation.

"He really helped us out," Lavender said defensively as she turned to look at me. "Malfoy, though he still is an arrogant prick, carried you here and left in a hurry after that. The gesture was well received."

Seamus mumbled something that I couldn't understand, but Padma sent him a swift kick in the knee cap. "You dummy. You were passed out in Neville's arms after having been punched twice. By a girl."

I smiled at my best friend's argument, happy to see that all of them were alive and well after this afternoon's events. I gestured quickly for Seamus to come closer and Padma, stealthily, steered Parvati and Lavender toward Neville.

I grabbed my best friend's hand tightly. "Seamus, I'm so sorry for the way I acted toward you. It was really stupid and-"

Seamus shook his head quickly, refusing to hear any of it. "No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you like that. I get a little protective, but I know that you can make your own decisions. I shouldn't have started anything in the Great Hall like that. Especially when I knew Alecto was looking for reasons to hurt you."

I smiled slightly at his words before throwing my arms around his neck. This time, I didn't regret the sting of pain that shot throughout my whole body. "Thank you for saving my life," I whispered in his ear. He hugged me tighter, rocking me back and forth on the floor.

"Can I fix your face up at least?" I giggled as we pulled away from each other. He let out a genuine bark of laughter as he scratched the back of his head absentmindedly.

"No, I want everyone to see it. I want everyone to know what monsters Alecto and Amycus really are. Hopefully, we can recruit more people to fight."

I nodded at his words, adrenaline amping up inside of me. He was right. It was now or never.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ahhhh! Chapter** **15! I sort of feel like I'm on a roll this week…hopefully you all feel the same way too! I'm enjoying getting back in the groove on this story.**

**Anyways, we are over the halfway mark now (which I'm sure you already knew), but just in case you didn't! Now you do. Lots more to happen so make sure to stay tuned and as always:**

**Read, review, and enjoy!  
>But really, I would love more reviews. Just so I know what you're thinking.<br>Your opinions are all important to me!**

The winter months hadn't let up yet, despite it nearing the end of February. I figured that the cold winds and torrential rains would have started by now, but even the weather was declaring war on the Wizarding World. Snow storms littered Hogwarts and the surrounding mountains, covering both in an extra foot of snow that made it nearly impossible to leave the castle sans wand for melting purposes.

Not that you wanted to leave the castle sans wand nowadays anyway.

Neville, Seamus, Ginny and I had picked up our mischief by covering the walls in DA graffiti, recruiting lower classmen students, and holding bi-weekly meetings to come up with ideas for further torture of the Carrow siblings.

"What if we jinxed them for a change?" a third year boy suggested excitedly just after Valentine's Day. "Of course, we would need an upper student to do that." He glanced pointedly at me, gesturing silently for me to make an announcement that I would do the jinxing.

"You are off your rocker, kid," I scoffed, thrusting my wand back into my jeans pocket after indulging in my new favorite pastime of setting Seamus' robes on fire. "You expect me to get close enough to one of them to get a good jinx aim without being caught?"

The third year looked slightly put out, but for good reason. These last few weeks, Alecto and Amycus had traveled throughout the castle with an entourage of seventh year Slytherins, including Pansy, Millicent, Crabbe, and Goyle.

I hadn't seen Draco take part in the fun yet, but deep down I figured it was only a matter of time before the peer pressure got to him. Crabbe and Goyle jeered at him more than usual in the common room these days, which was why we spent most of our time in his Head Boy dormitory.

That is, when we did spend time together. Mostly, he wanted to be alone.

Tonight was one of those nights and I decided to spend the remainder of my evening with Seamus and Neville doing what we do best- destroying the castle. We had a list of things to accomplish and we were moving with pretty good ease through the halls, despite the fact that we were carrying paint buckets and large posters.

"Hounds of Hell, Seamus, if you don't stop jerking around down there I'm going to take this paint brush and cram it so far up your back orifice that you'll choke on it until next Tuesday!" I hissed at him as I swayed once again on his shoulders.

Neville had the bright idea of writing inappropriate things as far up as we could so they would be harder to clean up in the long run. This meant I was forced to stand on Seamus' back as he kneeled on the floor, as I was the smallest. Neville would hand me paint supplies from his perch safely on the ground.

"Well if you'd try and lose a few pounds, maybe your fat ass wouldn't throw off my balance as much!"

I intentionally kicked him in the back of the head as I took a step closer to the wall.

"Merlin! You crazy bi…"

"Oy! What do you think you're doing?"

The loud, angry voice scared the living daylights out of me. I shrieked, effectively throwing off my balance and causing me to topple off Seamus' back and onto the stone floor. I groaned in pain as my knee cracked against the hard surface.

Blue paint spilled across the cracked floor.

"Oy! Get Professor Carrow! I got a few! Longbottom and-"

"_Obliviate!" _I hissed at Crabbe from the ground, hitting him square in the chest with the jet of light. A dazed expression crossed his thick face before he toppled to the ground and laid there in silence. "Quick, go find Goyle," I pointed at Neville, who had frozen in place. I heard the distant, loud thuds of footsteps growing quieter by the second.

Neville scurried off into the hallway, his wand drawn in front of him. I glanced at Seamus, who shrugged his shoulders at me. Neither of us knew what to do with Crabbe now that he was unconscious and on the floor in front of us.

So, with the help of Seamus, I turned him on his back and finger-painted a marvelous, blue moustache on his face. Seamus snorted his appreciation before adding a semi-permanent sticking charm onto the blue paint. We nodded in satisfaction toward each other.

Neville rounded the corner, his pudgy face slightly red as he placed both hands onto his knees in order to catch his breath. "No good. He's long gone. We have to get out of here."

I shuddered in fright as a burst of realization hit me in the heart. "Neville, Crabbe shouted your name. Goyle knows you were here. What are we going to do?"

We glanced at each other in concern. We didn't know much, but I did know one thing- whatever was going to come out of this wasn't going to be good. Not at all.

That night, after Pansy and Millicent went to sleep, I snuck as quietly as I could out of the girl's dormitory. No longer a safe haven for me (not that it ever had been), I was forced to place protective jinxes around me and my stuff every evening. I wanted to just give in and move out, but that meant sacrificing the only "insider" we had in the DA.

Neville and Seamus were willing to sacrifice it to get me out of danger, but I wasn't. That was my role in the DA now and I couldn't just give up on it.

I crept down the stairs, wand in hand, toward the common room and, eventually, toward the boy's dormitories. Hopefully Goyle hadn't been able to talk to Alecto or Amycus yet and I could erase his memory before the opportunity for conversation arose.

The fire in the common room had been dimmed, casting eerie shadows across the walls. The giant squid was perched on a large rock just outside the window facing the lake. Without taking a look at my surroundings, I tiptoed across the cold, stone floor toward the boy's dormitories, where Goyle would inevitably be at this hour.

I reached the staircase in good time, considering I was trying my hardest to be quiet, and placed a foot just on the first step.

"Natalie? What are you doing?"

I jumped in fright, managing to muffle down a screech, as I whipped around to see Draco Malfoy flopped lazily on the couch in front of the dimmed fireplace.

"If you must know," I hissed at him as I took another sideways step up the staircase, "I'm paying Goyle a visit tonight."

Draco wrinkled his nose in apparent disgust. "Really? A two in the morning visit to that slob? That could only mean one thing. And, trust me when I say, you would definitely be the first."

I glared at him, twisting over my shoulder so he could get the proper effect. "You are truly a disgusting human being, do you know that?"

He smirked at my retort. I glanced at him again, giving him a quick once over. His baggy sweatpants and white t-shirt were disheveled, as was his hair, so he obviously was in bed for sometime before he decided to get up. The smoldering, curious look he was sending me gave me a good reason to abandon the mission and wrap myself up on the couch with him.

I became all of a sudden aware of my lack of clothing, consisting of a revealing black tank top and short black shorts. I tugged self-consciously on the edges of my shorts. His smirk grew slightly.

"What are you doing down here anyways?" I managed to stutter out, trying to take the attention off my growing blush. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

He sighed, ruffling his blonde hair slightly. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you paying Goyle a visit?"

"You didn't ask," I responded quickly, trying to turn the conversation back onto him.

"It was implied." He squinted his eyes at me, halfway between a glare and a curious expression. "Seriously, Natalie, what are you doing?"

I took another step up the stairs to show him that I was going to continue on this mission no matter what. "If you must know, again, Goyle has some information stored in that pea-sized brain of his that I have to erase. It's for everyone's own good, I swear."

This time his expression turned into a full glare. "You aren't talking about that situation with Longbottom are you? Merlin, Natalie stay out of this one. He's gotten himself into big-" He paused, most likely from the guilty expression on my face. "You didn't. Natalie Garcia, don't tell me that you were involved in that too."

I squirmed on the staircase, unease setting on my shoulders. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't."

Draco let out a aggravated grunt. "I thought you were actually smart, Garcia. Thank Merlin Goyle only heard Crabbe talk about Longbottom. You're already in deep with the Carrows."

I scoffed at his explanation. "Draco, I'm not going to leave my friends out in the open like that. I was there too; I was in on the destruction process. And if that means ratting myself out to the Carrows, then I'm going to do it!"

"You are annoyingly frustrating. I'm not going to let you ruin your chances at coming out of seventh year alive." He paused again, contemplating me with slightly amused eyes. "I should have known it was you. Who else would have painted a blue mustache onto Crabbe's face?"

I grinned as I came down the stairs and headed over to the couch. "I'm pretty awesome, I know."

As I collapsed onto the couch in a heap of exhaustion, Draco threw an arm casually over my shoulder. I nestled into his side, drawing shapes with my fingertip on his abs. I was pleased when I saw goosebumps erupt over his skin, but I didn't mention it. He would have denied it anyways.

"Draco?"

"Hmmm?"

I paused, unsure of how to phrase the question, but I decided to not beat around the bush. "Do you think we are going to come out of seventh year alive?"

It was the first time I had voiced the concern out loud. I felt the burden of responsibility lift slightly at the question.

He tightened his grip around my shoulder before planting a kiss on the top of my head. "I'm going to fight for it. We're both coming out of this alive."

It was rather unnerving the next day in breakfast when Amycus didn't even bother looking at us when we entered. Usually he set his piggy eyes on Neville, Seamus, or me while continuing to shovel oatmeal into his big mouth. That morning, he didn't even look up.

"Maybe he didn't hear anything," Seamus whispered hopefully, "Maybe Goyle didn't get to him in time."

Neville nodded his head, trying to take comfort in Seamus' words, but I sorely disagreed. "Draco knew what happened last night and I didn't even say anything to him. Whatever Goyle heard, it's already gotten around Slytherin."

Neville paled slightly. Seamus stared at me, trying to gesture silently that I wasn't making the situation any better, but I just shrugged. No use in lying to the poor kid.

"You know we'll have your back, no matter what happens," I said consolingly as I patted Neville on the shoulder. We reached the Ravenclaw table to sit with Padma just in time for the warning bell to ring, so we picked up a few pieces of toast to bring with us instead.

"Is it just me or is Amycus being unusually quiet today?" Padma asked quietly as we followed the migration of students out of the Great Hall and into the branching corridors. We took the steps one at a time, trying to go as slow as possible so we wouldn't have to wait outside the classroom for very long.

"We were just thinking the same thing," I muttered back as we joined the queue outside the door. We were five minutes early despite our late departure and slow walking.

The door flew open, but this time Amycus was seated at the desk in front of the classroom. We filed in, sending looks of concern and unease to each other. I caught Draco's eye for a moment and he raised his eyebrows before taking a seat on the opposite end of the room.

I pulled out the chair, roughly scraping it against the stone floor before sitting down. A few Hufflepuff seventh years eyed me apprehensively.

The full room was silent for a moment before Amycus began to speak. He stood from his perch on the wooden chair, slowly rising while twirling his wand between his thick fingers.

"We seem to be 'aving a little problem," he started softly, walking around the desk. "We seem to be 'aving a problem…behaving."

A red tint crept up on my face. I put my cheeks in my hands, resting my elbows on the table to try and keep Amycus from seeing my worried blush.

"It seems…we 'ave students…disobeying."

He walked down the middle aisle, still twirling his wand slowly in his hand. He stopped directly next to Neville before turning to face the front of the classroom. "It seems that way…don't it Mr. Longbottom?"

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Neville's breathing hitched for a moment before he got it under control once again. "I don't know what you mean, sir," Neville said carefully, not bothering to look the professor in the eye.

Amycus grabbed him gruffly by the neck of his robes and hauled him to his feet with surprising force. "Are you sure you don't want to re-answer that question, boy?" he said roughly as he pushed Neville into the aisle. Neville whipped out his wand from the inside pocket of his robes, pointing it at the professor. "We had an eye witness putting you at the scene of the crime last night!"

Amycus pointed at Goyle and Crabbe, who was still sporting a blue-tinted mustache. I managed to cover my snort of amusement with my fist.

"Seems like these little detentions are doing you no good, Longbottom," Amycus growled as he tried to circle around Neville. "I think we need to start using alternative methods, don't you? What about your grandmother? What do you think she would say if she were kidnapped and tortured to keep you quiet?"

Neville drew in a harsh breath, but didn't back down from his dueling stance. "I still won't stop. And she'll be proud. She'll never let you take her."

Amycus let out a humorless giggle. "Are you sure about that, boy?" He shot a jinx quickly at Neville, who managed to dodge it by jumping onto the chair he had previously been sitting in. "Are you sure she won't scream and beg for mercy?"

I furrowed my brow in confusion before turning to Padma. "Why would he threaten to hurt Neville's grandmother? Isn't that a little odd?"

Padma shook her head, her eyes still filled with terror. "It makes perfect sense. They are kidnapping children to keep the parents quiet, why wouldn't they do the opposite? Haven't you noticed the Quibbler since Luna's disappearance? It could go hand in hand with the Prophet."

I turned my attention back to the situation and hand, where Neville had once again dove onto a desk to nearly avoid another lethal-looking curse.

"Shut down whatever you're up to, Longbottom," Amycus said dangerously while stowing his wand into his robes, "Or I'll send someone after your family. And it won't be pretty." He whipped around to exit the room from the back door. It shut behind him with a snap, leaving the room perfectly silent, sans Neville's heavy breathing.

"Is it just me," I said, breaking the silence, "Or do these classes keep getting shorter and shorter?"

A few people laughed apprehensively while Pansy and her crew threw dirty looks at known members of the DA, myself included.

"Not that I mind at all," Seamus said once he gathered his things and made his way across the room. "More time away from the Carrows is more time to be happy." We glanced toward Neville, who was still visibly shaken from his altercation with Amycus.

"What are we going to do?" I hissed to Padma and Seamus as we followed the pack of seventh years from the Defense room. "We can't just let the Carrows get away with kidnapping Neville's grandmother! We have to help somehow."

There was a grim snort behind us, followed by a scoff. "You aren't serious, Garcia? Haven't you learned enough already?" A hand clasped around my upper arm, dragging me down an empty corridor. I waved at Padma and Seamus, letting them know I would catch up later.

"What are you saying, Malfoy?" I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest.

He sighed, running his fingers through his blonde hair. "I'm saying that it's time to give up this stupid membership you have going on. You are a Slytherin and it's time to act like one, unless you want to be thrown in the dungeon with Luna."

I glared up at him. "What did you say about Luna? Do you know where she is?"

The emotion in his eyes closed off so suddenly that I wasn't able to read them at all. "All I'm saying, Garcia, is that it's time to think about you and your family. Forget them-" He gestured vaguely toward the rest of the school- "It's time to give up these stupid games."

I took a step back, looking up at him in shock. "I thought you didn't want to be a part of that anymore."

He shook his head. "That didn't mean I want to be a part of yours."

Anger reeled up inside me. Of course, he never said he wanted to be a part of the DA. He had always made it clear that he still hated Harry Potter, Neville, and basically the rest of my friends. I thought him joining our side was implied, that he would set aside differences to help us fight.

And here he was trying to tear it down.

"You know what, Seamus was right about you," I said, infuriated. "I never should have trusted you. I can't believe you would even think about letting all these innocent people die just to save yourself. Well, thank Merlin, I'm not like you. I'm going to fight. So run away, coward. Just run."

I thought for a moment that Draco would hit me, but he cracked his knuckles and took a deep, calming breath. "If that's what you think I'm doing, then fine. By all means, Garcia. Get yourself killed. I don't care anymore."

I watched as he stormed away in anger, not bothering to look at me as he turned the corner and disappeared.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16! Wow, I can't believe we're at this point already. Things are really going to start heating up (for everyone I should say). Thank you so much for the love and support you've shown this series thus far. Really appreciate all my readers!**

**Anyways, would love more reviews! Let me know how you like it.  
>Read, review, and enjoy!<strong>

I took off running from the damaged courtyard as I heard the expected yell of shock and anger resound through the halls. Laughing to myself as I sped through the empty corridor, I glanced back to see exactly what I had anticipated- Alecto's hair smoking as Amycus struggled to get the flames under control.

From what I could see out the windows, stones from annihilated statues littered the courtyard; dust was still present in the air, settling onto the fallen debris like snow.

"Ughhh, not again," I heard a statue of a gargoyle moan as I slowed my run to a brisk jog. His wing had been taken off by the blast and thrown six feet away.

I heard the quick footsteps of Seamus rounding the corner to meet me in our designated spot.

"That…was…awesome!" he said excitedly, jamming his fist into the air as he reached me. We hid in the shadows, surveying the newly destroyed courtyard with satisfaction. I managed to stifle a loud laugh as Amycus doused Alecto with a large jet of water from his wand. She glared at him with amusing force.

"I was not expecting an explosion!" I chuckled quietly, watching as Amycus kicked a large piece of stone. "I thought we were just setting off fireworks again!"

Seamus shrugged, craning his head to watch Amycus hopping up and down on one foot, howling loudly, as he had just stubbed his toe. "I guess we used one too many," he said casually. We grinned at each other, pleased with the turn of events.

"Let's get out of here," I said softly, as the Carrows had started searching the area for the cause of the explosion. "Plus, Neville and Padma are waiting for us in the Room of Requirement."

"All I asked," Padma said slowly as we finished recalled the events of the evening, "was that you not blow anything up. That was the one and only rule you had to follow. Please explain to me how you managed to decimate a quarter of an acre of land AND-" she paused to rub a spot above her left eye- "set Alecto's hair on fire."

I felt like I was eight years old again, staring with false shame at my mother in the kitchen while she sat at the big wooden table and went on and on about how Garcia women were expected to act with compassion and intelligence and how was I displaying excellence while I was trying to flush my older sister's Ask-and-Answer Diary down the toilet, hm?

Explaining to her that Vanessa had called me squib-face (which, I'm sure, was a very innovative play on the fact that my magic hadn't grown into me yet) had only succeeded in getting me a disappointed head shake and two weeks grounded to my room.

Anyway, sitting there with Padma staring sternly at me only brought back elementary aged memories. Only this time, instead of getting frowned at by my thirty-some-year-old mother with black hair that appeared to have been styled by a blender, I was sitting on a stuffed cushion in a windowless, hard-wood covered room getting frowned at by a teenage girl in tight jeans and an over-sized cashmere sweater.

Very different setting. Very similar affect.

"Oh, that was just an accident," I said, shrugging off her concern. "I only got her hair. It's not like a blew her up."

Padma still didn't seem too thrilled by the thought. I leaned back in the plush cushion, surveying her with wide, innocent eyes. She relaxed her position, glaring at me playfully.

"Don't give me that tone of face, Natalie Garcia. I know what you're trying to do. It's not going to work."

I poked out my bottom lip, faking a pout. She laughed, chucking a nearby pillow at me. I ducked, laughing with her.

"Okay, okay," she relented, leaning back in the wooden chair she was seated in, "it WAS pretty funny."

"Great!" I said happily, slapping my hands on my thighs in an effort to stand from the cushion, "Let's go out and do some more mischief. I'm feeling-" I paused for dramatic effect- "Well, mischievous is really the only word for it."

Padma shook her head quickly, sending me another look of grave concern. "Hon, aren't you taking this a little too far? I mean, isn't annihilating half of the courtyard enough for the day?"

I shook my head at her. "Padma, Padma, Padma. We only live once. And if we want the Carrows out of here, then we need to keep hitting them when they least expect it. Am I right, Seamus?"

Seamus glanced up from his newly intense game of Exploding Snaps with Ginny. He wrinkled his brow in confusion as Ginny swapped a couple cards and the pile hadn't yet exploded. "Uhh…nah I think I'm going to sit this one out," he said in his Irish brogue, carefully taking one card out of the middle of the deck, "Making the courtyard explode was enough for-" The deck of cards exploded, shrouding Ginny, Seamus, and Neville (who was an onlooker) in black dust and smoke.

Padma raised her eyebrows in an "I told you so" kind of way. I shook my head, slumping back into the cushioned seat.

"What were you planning?" Neville asked as he whipped the soot from his eyes. Padma looked at him with an expression of surprise.

"You shouldn't be encouraging this behavior," my best friend warned as Neville crossed his ankles and stood from his kneeled position on the floor. "Neville, you of all people should know what happens when you cross this new regime with-"

"Natalie is right," Neville cut her off as he shook his head, roughly releasing any soot particles left clinging to his hair, "We do have to keep hitting them until they break. And they definitely wouldn't expect it twice in a row."

I turned to smirk at Padma, who had a sour look plastered on her face. "This really isn't a good idea. I don't have a pleasant feeling about this-"

I stood happily from the cushioned seat before leaning over to ruffle her hair. "It probably has nothing to do with our fun. That feeling is probably the three bean burritos you had at lunch today." She shot me an incredulous look as we made our way toward the door. "Don't worry about us. It's a beautiful Saturday morning. We finished our homework. And we're just going to cause a little mayhem. We'll be back in twenty minutes. What could possibly go wrong?"

We sat crouched behind the statue of the gargoyle that my fireworks had previously blown the wing off of. He mumbled profanities as we watched Alecto and Amycus continue to survey the damaged courtyard.

"Teenage mutants," the gargoyle muttered angrily, "Why couldn't I have gotten the job at Notre Dame like my brother did?"

I stifled a giggle at the gargoyle's quiet rant as Neville elbowed me softly in the arm. I looked up, zoning in on the target. Amycus had risen from his own crouched stance, walking around a giant stone that had fallen from the second floor of the castle. He kicked it, howling once again as he stubbed his toe.

"What an idiot," I whispered. This time, it was Neville who had to stifle his laugh. "Okay, are you ready?" He nodded as we both drew our wands, pointing them at Amycus' back.

"What are you going to do?" Neville mumbled as he screwed his face into a concentrated look.

I shrugged. "Just do whatever pops into your mind and we'll see what happens when they combine." My mind briefly flitted to the time when Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy were turned into giant slugs at the end of fifth year. I smirked at the memory.

"On the count of three, then?" Neville whispered as I raised my wand to my own eye level.

"One…"

"Two…"

Right before I mumbled the word 'three,' our wands went soaring out of our hands, landing a good ten feet away. I looked at Neville in shock, who turned to stare at me with an expression of equal confusion.

"So that wasn't-?" I started, but was immediately cut off by Neville flying fifteen feet in the opposite direction of his wand, landing on the stone floor with a nasty thud. I whipped around, wanting to see who was doing the jinxes.

Unfortunately, all I had to do was turn my head briefly to the left as Alecto was crouching right behind us, staring at us with a rather pleasant look on her face.

"Tryna curse my brother, hey?" she said, smiling widely to reveal crooked teeth. I shrank against the gargoyle, both anxious and disgusted.

"Oh, no, no, no," I said quickly, gesturing with my hands. "We were just trying to help with the cleanup. Weren't we Neville," I finished louder than necessary. He responded by shoving a 'thumbs up' sign into the air. "See? We weren't going to do anything nasty to your brother."

Alecto glared at me for another moment before grabbing my upper arm and hauling me to my feet. In my haste to catch my feet on the stone floor before she had the chance to throw me, I felt a small weight drop from my jacket pocket. It landed on the ground with an audible crack.

The professor bent down to pick it up, surveying the object with minor interest.

"Oy! Amycus! What does this look like to you?" She thrust the object into the air for him to see. I caught a quick glimpse of it, my face paling immediately.

A small firework had made its way out of my pocket. And now it was in the hands of Alecto Carrow. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to calm my nerves.

"Well, Alecto, that looks like the fireworks that destroyed this courtyard," Amycus grinned as he lifted a few mangled firework containers into the air. They were identical to the one that Alecto was holding up.

I was in big trouble.

"Grab the boy," Alecto demanded as she started to drag me toward the empty corridor that led off the courtyard, "And meet me in the Great Hall. We have ourselves a little meetin'."

"We have another one?" Padma sighed, resigned as she checked her eyebrows to make sure both were still intact. An announcement rang through the castle, calling all students to report to the Great Hall immediately to avoid full punishment. "Isn't one assembly a week reminding us of the importance that Harry Potter gets caught enough for these people?"

Ginny snorted as she pocketed her Exploding Snap deck. It wasn't so unusual now to have assemblies at the drop of a dime. The Carrows expected everyone to drop what they were doing, no matter what. It was getting quite tedious.

"I completely agree," Ginny chuckled as they threw the cushioned seats back into the corner of the Room of Requirement. "Usually when they have these kinds of meetings it only means one thing…"

She trailed off, scrunching her eyebrows together. Seamus seemed to mimic her thoughts, as he looked around the room and said, "Uh, guys. Weren't Neville and Natalie supposed to be back an hour ago?"

The three DA members looked at each other with different levels of frightened expressions. Without another word, they hustled from the room and ran down the packed corridors toward the Great Hall, where they all expected to see one thing…

"If I survive this," Neville muttered to me as he struggled against the magical restraints Alecto had tied across his arms and chest, "You are so dead. I will personally kill you myself."

"Kill me?" I hissed, struggling against the restraints myself. "Why would you kill me? You were the one that agreed with me! I didn't have to drag you down to the courtyard to curse Amycus."

The ragged looking professor turned to glare at us, his doughy face appearing more rounded with the sharp relief the sun's rays created. "You two are in such big trouuuuuble!" he sang happily, using his wand to tighten the restraints across my chest. I took as deep of a breath that I could, considering the ropes were now cutting off the air supply to my lungs.

"No you didn't," Neville mumbled back as his own restraints were tightened. I struggled to loosen them once again. "But this puts a big dent in the DA recruiting, don't you think?"

I didn't have a retort this time, because he was right. If other students thought this happened every time the DA stepped up to do something, then no one would ever want to join. And really, they would be right. We were caught almost every time.

"Maybe we just need a different schedule for planning rebellions," I exasperated. "We're looking at this from the wrong angle."

"Yes," Neville sneered, "Obviously."

I glanced around the Great Hall, seeing many younger students whispering behind their hands. Many had glazed over eyes, already knowing what was going to happen. I zoned my eyes onto the door, where the Blonde Boy Wonder just waltzed in, accompanied by two gorillas in robes.

Draco Malfoy glared at me, evidently not surprised that I had been the one to take him away from…whatever he was doing. I removed my gaze from him, this time focusing on a trio that had walked into the Hall behind Malfoy.

Seamus clapped his hand to his forehead, running it down his face quite comically. He shook his head as he led the trio to a line near the middle of the Hall. A few second years giggled as he passed. I smiled at Padma, who was physically shaking with fear. She shook her head, turning her eyes down from mine.

I felt a stab of pain run through my heart at her preference to look at the floor rather than me. I glanced over to Ginny, who was shaking her head with an amused smirk on her face. Neville exchanged her smirk with a small grin.

If we survived this, I was going to kill him for being such a drama queen.

The students in the Hall quieted immediately as Alecto took front and center. I saw teachers wringing their hands anxiously in the background. I was slightly bemused by the concern McGonagall portrayed at this particular moment. I always pegged her to be the first one to torture me.

"We have two culprits to showcase," Alecto began, circling us like a lioness circles a pack of zebra. "Two culprits who have knowingly broke rules…"

I rolled my eyes. She was making my own funeral sound ridiculous. Of course I knowingly broke the rules. That's what defines breaking the rules.

"These two," she continued, forcefully pointing a finger at us, "have tried to sabotage a professor at this school. Amycus Carrow."

The Hall began to buzz with whispers as students turned to each other to gossip about the newfound story. More than likely, by the end of the day the story will go that I turned Amycus into a spider and tried to step on him before he scuttled away.

"AND," she said loudly, effectively cutting off the entire buzz, "this girl here has been caught red-handed trying to blow up the Hogwarts courtyard."

I cleared my throat before eliciting a loud, "Excuse me?"

Evidently Alecto wasn't used to her victims interrupting her mid-speech, as she spun around, her small, piggy eyes focused in a glared on me. I saw Padma shaking her head quickly in the audience, her eyes wide and pleading for me to keep my mouth shut. I turned back to Alecto anyways.

"You actually didn't catch me red-handed," I corrected her, enjoying her lumpy features blow up in anger. "You caught me red handed trying to curse Professor Carrow, but the courtyard was already decimated by that time. Which also leads me to say that I didn't try to blow up the courtyard, I actually did it."

The Great Hall went silent. Students flitted their eyes between me and Alecto. I'm pretty certain I saw Draco let out a snort of laughter. Padma stared at me incredulously, her jaw dropped as wide as it would go. I turned my attention back to Alecto, who was seething with rage.

She whipped out her wand, pointing at me threateningly. "Well, let's just see if you can approve of this, my dear."

I shut my eyes tight as she opened her mouth to scream out a curse. Just as I heard her take a deep, powerful breath, I heard, "WAIT! STOP!" come from the audience.

I peeked through my squinted eyelids to see everyone turned, staring at Draco Malfoy with puzzled expressions on their faces. His skin paled slightly as he straightened his jacket before clearing his throat. "I mean…this is an incredibly bad idea on your part," he said, slowly making his way through the crowd of students.

"Father disgraced…mother in denial…aunt who probably sluts around with the Dark Lord," Alecto sneered at him as he took a step onto the platform. "What could you possibly tell me that would change my mind about what I'm about to do?" She raised her wand up to chest height again.

"Do you know who her father is?" Draco claimed, quickly moving in front of me to block my view.

"You can't pull your father card so you're going to pull my father card?" I snorted at his back. "You are completely unreasonable. Besides, I thought you didn't care-"

"Just shut your trap, Garcia," he muttered back as Alecto tried to work out what he was talking about.

"It doesn't matter who her father is," Alecto screeched as she motioned for Draco to get out of the way, "She is just a piece of mudblood loving filth. Now, get out of the way, boy, or I'll curse you too."

Draco started to draw his wand slowly as he stated, "Her father is Alexander Garcia. And I promise you, he is not on the disgraced from the Dark Lord list."

The woman lowered her wand, slowly taking in what Draco had said. "You better be joking, boy," she growled as she tried to peek over Draco's shoulder to get a good look at me. Draco held his ground.

"I'm not. And what would Alexander Garcia do if he found out his daughter was tortured at school by a fellow Death Eater?"

Alecto glared at Draco before waving her wand, effectively releasing Neville and I from our restraints. "Consider it your lucky day," she hissed at us before storming off the platform, dragging her brother along with her.

A few students in the front row shrugged as they spun around and started their trek out of the Great Hall. A few other students seemed oddly disappointed at the turn of events. Teachers in the back were sighing with relief as they ushered students back to their common rooms, announcing dinner would take place at the usual time.

"Thanks, Malfoy," I mumbled uncertainly as I rubbed the spot on my arm that the rope had been sitting. He just shook his head and muttered something along the lines of "you're such an idiot" before strutting off the platform to join Crabbe and Goyle, who were both gesturing to him that they were hungry.

Padma bounded up the steps, slapping me hard across the cheek when she reached me. I took a step back in shock. My best friend glared at me for another moment before pulling me into a tight hug.

"Merlin, you're so stupid. How could you get caught? How could you do that to me? Merlin, I was so scared. I seriously hate you right now."

As I consoled Padma, I watched over her shoulder at the blonde boy who was pushing his way through the throng of younger students. He seemed to pause at the entrance, turning to look at me with unsure eyes.

He shook his head slowly, evidently not keen on his decision. He stepped out of the Great Hall and before I knew it, he was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17! Is anyone getting excited? I'm getting excited. Because everyone knows what's coming up soon…the ending. The epic, epic ending. Still a good number of chapters to go, so don't pull out your tissue box yet! Have I said recently how much I love my readers? No? Well I do. Just in case you forgot. **

**Quick disclaimer, as this contains some actual DH material. I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. And though I wish I had the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, I unfortunately do not. I do own Natalie and her sister, Vanessa…that's pretty much it.**

**And a few of you have been wondering about the fate of Draco and Natalie's relationship. All in due time, my good friends, all in due time. I am usually the worst at keeping secrets, but this one I'll keep…until you find out in the series!**

**Anyways, REVIEWS would be LOVELY as usual. Let me know how you like it!  
>Read and enjoy.<strong>

"We need help in here!" I heard a small voice shout from down the hallway. A young girl, not much older than a first year, with blonde pigtails and freckles adorning her face was pointing down into a dark corridor.

Padma and I looked at each other and shrugged, turning around to help the girl instead of going to Defense Against the Darks Arts. We hadn't been too keen on going, especially since the whole Great Hall incident.

"He's in there. He's hurt badly," the small girl whispered as she pointed into an empty classroom. The room was dimly lit with torches, most of them weren't ignited.

I dropped my books and shrieked as I saw a fellow DA member leaning against the wall, his face looking like someone had stuck it in a blender. "Padma, run quick and get Neville or Seamus. We need all the help we can get!"

Padma dropped her books at the entrance to the room, bolting down the corridor to try and catch one of the boys before they entered Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Michael Corner moaned as I lightly brushed his brown, shaggy hair off his forehead. Both eyes were swollen shut and were quickly turning a nasty purple. His upper lip was split with blood dripping down his bruised chin. A few deep cuts and scrapes were prevalent against the pale features of his face.

"What happened?" I asked the girl as I drew out my wand and began to heal the injuries that I could. The rest, Madame Pomfrey would have to do.

The girl took a deep breath as she played with the end of her pigtail. Her eyes sparkled with tears. "He heard me screaming from the corridor and came in to help. The Carrows had me locked up over there for three days-" She paused to point at a set of shackles chained to the stone wall- "for not cursing my twin sister in class. He…he tried to undo the locks…but…but…" She trailed off, her sobs encompassing whatever speech she had left.

I turned to grip her shoulder. She didn't have to say what happened. I already knew.

"What happened? Natalie, are you okay?" Neville said anxiously as he entered the classroom, closely followed by Seamus and Padma.

"I'm okay," I explained quickly, standing from my squatted position on the stone floor. "But Michael isn't. We need to get him to the hospital wing and fast." I placed an arm around the girl as she continued to sob with her head in her hands. "She can come with us too. Maybe Madame Pomfrey has a Calming Drought on hand."

Seamus and Neville bent down, grabbing Michael under the arms. They hauled him to his feet, being careful to avoid the deep cuts that adorned his upper body. He moaned as they placed his arms over their shoulders and began to half-carry, half-drag him out of the room.

I steered the young girl from the room, making sure to watch the corridors for any prying eyes.

"This is almost the worst I've seen yet," Padma muttered as we reached the Hospital Wing. I quickly got ahead of the boys and threw open the doors, yelling for Madame Pomfrey.

"Death Eaters in the castle, students coming to my doorstep tortured every day," she mumbled to herself as she cleared a bed for Michael. "This is no way to run a school…"

Madame Pomfrey quickly shooed us from the Wing before enclosing herself, Michael, and the young girl within a curtain of white. We stood outside the Wing for a moment, looking at each other.

"What do we do now?" I asked slowly, not taking my eyes off the wooden doors that led into the Wing. "He was really the first one to get tortured besides us."

Neville ran his fingers through his brown hair, sighing loudly. "I think it would be wise if we take a step back for awhile. We go home for Easter break tomorrow. Let's regroup and come back with some solid ideas. Ideas that keep us from getting killed."

He walked away, still running his fingers through his hair. He turned to punch the stone wall before turning the corner and disappearing.

I knew he was taking this torturing pretty hard. He felt the responsibility of the DA on his shoulders, even if he wasn't there to help every DA member all the time. I know he felt personally responsible for Michael landing in the Hospital Wing, even though there was nothing he could have done about it.

"I think Neville is right and, as much as it eats away at me on the inside to admit, Malfoy too," Padma stated as we finally made our way slowly through the castle, not bothering to try and slip into Defense Against the Dark Arts. "This isn't about detentions and rule breaking anymore. This isn't Hogwarts. This is a real war that as invaded our lives. We can't pretend it is just a fantasy anymore." She paused to take a deep breath. "I think we need to be realistic. We're just kids. We can't take this on all by ourselves."

I was quiet for a moment, taking in what she said. She was right. Why was it up to us to fight a war when the adults in our lives wouldn't even do it? I looked up at her as we walked down the hallway.

"It's because the adults in our lives won't do it. We have to make the world a better place…for us. And if our parents and mentors and teachers aren't going to help…then I'm going to do it myself."

Padma stopped in her tracks and grabbed onto my wrist, forcing me to look up at her. "Please, just don't do anything stupid," she pleaded, "I won't be able to bear it if I lost my best friend."

I gave her a tight hug. "I promise. Nothing stupid."

_Okay, baby sister.  
>We have a LOT of wedding planning to do when you get home.<br>So get ready and enjoy the wild ride!  
>Can't wait to see you. I'll be at King's Cross to pick you up!<em>

_Xo Vanessa_

I refolded the letter and shoved it into my book bag as I nestled into the cushioned seat near the corner of the train compartment. It was late and after the Michael situation played out, many DA members wanted to stick together rather than sitting in their separate compartments that day.

Especially since we didn't know who we could trust and who we couldn't.

The DA had become my family away from home, something I had expected to find my first year at Hogwarts, not my seventh. I smiled at Ginny and Padma's wild dancing. Ginny accidently stomped on an Exploding Snap card, covering her and everyone in the vicinity in black soot.

Seamus laughed whole-heartedly as Ernie and Neville glared up at her with amused expressions.

Parvati and Lavender were in another corner of the compartment teaching a couple first and second year girls how to put on make-up and magically curl their hair using their wand a fancy hair potion Lavender had discovered at the beginning of the year. The young girls were looking up at them with such respect and admiration that I had to stifle my laugh.

I hadn't spoken to Draco since he saved me from Alecto's wrath, again, that fateful day. While boarding the train, he did send me a curt nod before heading down the passageway with Crabbe and Goyle. I figured I needed to work really hard to get back in his good graces.

Then again, I wasn't sure that I really wanted to.

"Are you going to sit there like a bump on a log?" a laughing Padma said to me as she threw herself down onto the cushioned seat next to me. "Come on, only a few short minutes left with me and you're going to sit there and be uncharacteristically quiet?"

I smiled at her, shrugging my shoulders. The train had just entered a part of London. We weren't too far now. "I don't know. I'm just thinking about some stuff?"

Padma leaned back in the seat, furrowing her eyebrows in concern. "What kind of stuff?"

I played with the frayed end of my jacket. "Draco Malfoy kind of stuff."

Padma was quiet for a moment, so I continued.

"He saved me and Neville from Alecto. You can't deny that. I don't know. I just get the feeling that he hates me."

Padma threw an arm over my shoulder, squeezing me tight. "If I knew Draco Malfoy, which I don't, I would say that he didn't hate you. He's just worried about you. And if I knew Draco Malfoy, which I do at this point in the talk, I would say that he didn't want to worry about you, so he's just going to cut you off."

There was a quick knock on the compartment as the trolley witch appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly down at us. "Any last minute goodies from the trolley, dears?"

I leaned over, wanting to take away any attention Padma and I had drawn to ourselves. "Yeah-" I paused to read her name badge- "Julie? Could you be a little less perky? Thanks."

Julie frowned and leaned down so only Padma and I could hear her before whispering, "Listen kid, I have to put up with snobby children like you all day. I have better things to do than listen to a little brat whine, so if you know what's good for you, then you'll keep your mouth shut." She straightened up and flashed me a million dollar smile. "Is that better?"

I blinked and then smiled. "That's more like it. Thank you."

"Anytime." She turned and left the compartment, pushing her small trolley with her.

"You are something else," Padma snorted as she pulled her bag from the overhead cubicle. The train had finally started to slow down as the operator announced that we would be arriving at King's Cross Station in less than a minute.

"They must have a new driver this year," Ginny commented as she balanced herself by placing a hand on the compartment wall. The train had come to a stop so suddenly that most of our things were thrown forward, along with Seamus, who had fallen on me and sent us flying back onto cushioned bench.

"Get off me you fat ass," I said as I pushed him onto the floor with surprising force. "I have to meet my crazy sister before Malfoy finds me."

What I confided in Padma may have been true, but that didn't mean I wanted to have a heart to heart with the boy right before our break began. He had a nasty habit of trying to do that.

Which is why, like usual, I ducked and took cover behind my trunk and then behind my sister until we were safely out of Malfoy range.

"What the hell was that?" Vanessa laughed as I straightened up, ignoring the odd looks from passersby as we made our way out of King's Cross. "Did you murder someone on the train or something?" Her face fell quickly as she turned to glare at me. "Oh Merlin, Natalie Marie, don't tell me you really murdered someone."

I stared at her incredulously. "Come on, Vanessa. If I really had murdered someone on the train, do you think I would be strolling out of there with you in broad daylight? No, is the answer to that question. I am much smarter than-" I ducked behind my sister once again. I thought I heard someone calling my name.

Vanessa rolled her eyes as she grabbed my upper arm and hauled me to my feet. "Let's go, crazy. I have an appointment to try on dresses and, yes, you do have to come with me."

Twenty minutes later, I was still moaning and griping as she tried on her third dress of the evening.

"Come on, Vanessa," I sighed as I heard the zipper roll up the back of the dress, pinning it together. "I'm hungry. Like, really, really hungry. You didn't even think about feeding me before this whole thing went down!" I started to pick at the frayed edges of my jacket again, much like I had done on the train. "Can't you just-"

I stopped as Vanessa swung back the curtain, revealing herself in the third dress. She looked stunning. It was a strapless, white number with sequins running along the top portion.

"Well?" she asked self consciously, running her hands along from the front of the dress. "What do you think?"

"Vanessa!" I said, standing from my position in the chair to stare at her in shock. "You look beautiful! That's the one! That's definitely the one!"

Vanessa blushed, continuing to run her hands along the front of the dress. "Are you sure? I mean the first one was really rather…"

"NO!" I half shouted, waving my extended arms sporadically. "I mean, come on Vanessa, it can't get more perfect than that! Let's get that one and go."

My sister rolled her eyes before stepping back into the booth to change back into her regular clothes. "You're only saying that because you want to pick up some food."

I threw myself back down into the wooden seat, this time playing with a hang nail on my thumb. "Chinese or pizza would be lovely, thank you very much."

It was late by the time we made it back to the apartment (as Vanessa felt like trying on five more dresses before deciding to go with the one I initially told her to buy) and we were finally sitting in Oliver's kitchen chowing on cheese pizza.

"Merlin, this is so good," I groaned happily, "I seriously forgot how good pizza was. Do you remember how good pizza is?" I shoved my piece into Oliver's face, who slowly backed away with a terrified expression on his face.

"Uhh…we have pizza at least once a week here…"

"Oh," I said, more disappointed than I should have been. I set the piece of pizza back onto the plate and watched it dejectedly. "I wish we had pizza every week."

Vanessa set down her own slice, her brow furrowed together. "Why do I get the feeling you aren't really talking about pizza? What's going on at school, Nat? Do we need to pull you out of there?"

I stood from the table quickly, placing my now-empty plate in the sink. "Umm…no, everything is fine," I said as I started to fidget with the radio that sat atop Oliver's counter. "Really it is…normal, I promise." I twirled the dials on the radio subconsciously as I thought how to explain exactly what was going on at school. "Though, after the death of Albus Dumble-"

The panel on the radio lit orange as the dial stopped twirling. I took a step back from the countertop, staring at the radio curiously.

"-Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a second goblin, both believed to have been traveling with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk, may have escaped. If Dean is listening, or if anyone has any knowledge of his whereabouts, his parents and sisters are desperate-"

Oliver stood from his seat at the wooden table and came over to countertop, leaning over the radio with a concerned expression. "What did you press, Natalie? That voice…it sounds incredibly familiar."

I shrugged my shoulders, jumping up to perch myself onto the counter. "I didn't press anything! The radio just landed there."

"-Thank you. And now we turn to our regular contributor Royal, for an update on how the new Wizarding order is affecting-"

Realization hit me faster than stomach problems hit Pansy when I fed her the laxative chocolates last year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. "That's Lee Jordan! I know that voice too! All the times he announced at the Quidditch matches. How could I be so stupid?"

"-Like to appeal to all our listeners to emulate their example, perhaps by casting a protective charm over any Muggle dwellings in your street. Many lives could be saved if such simple measures are taken."

Vanessa stood from the table this time, wrapping her arms around her chest as she came closer to the radio to have a listen. "You had to have put in the password by accident, Nat. I can't imagine a public network would air this kind of show, especially nowadays."

"-That Harry Potter is still alive?"

The three of us went quiet for a moment, holding our breath as we awaited the answer. I hadn't heard anything the past few months about Harry, Hermione, or Ron. I figured they were alright though, since I HADN'T heard anything about them. Maybe this was the time we knew for sure…

"There is no doubt at all in my mind that his death would be proclaimed as widely as possible by the Death Eaters if it had happened, because it would strike a deadly blow at the morale of those resisting the new regime-"

I exhaled deeply, feeling the tension rise up in me once again. So no one really knew if Harry was alive or wasn't. They just had it on good faith that he was. Though, I had to agree with the speaker…if he were found dead, the Death Eaters would broadcast it across the entire nation. A feeling of pride swelled up inside of me. At least we were still fighting for something.

"Hey! That's Fred Weasley! Or is it George?" Oliver shouted happily. "Either way, I could recognize those voices anywhere from all the grief they gave me back in school…Merlin, it's good to hear them again."

"-Has got legs. If it has, it's safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is You-Know-Who, that's still likely to be the last thing you ever do."

The three of us burst into laughter at the quip. It was the first time I had ever laughed at anything war related. It actually felt kind of…good.

"Leave it to those two to joke about something completely inappropriate," Oliver said as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Whoo, that was funny."

"-Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to, so don't count on him being a long way away if you're planning on taking any risks-"

The three of us burst into laughter again, this time I clutched at my sides as I rolled off the counter and onto the floor. "Severus…Snape…shampoo!" I managed to gasp out as I beat the floor with my fist. Vanessa was holding onto the countertop with dear life as her eyes were clenched shut with hysterical laughter.

I remembered the time in my first year when I caught those two slipping un-opened bottles of shampoo under his office door. That was my first encounter with the twins and my admiration only grew from there.

The lights on the panel shut off as the dial finally twirled, signaling that the program was effectively over.

"Ah man!" Oliver moaned as he slammed his palm onto the top of the radio. "We missed the next password! Ah hell, I'll figure it out later."

I climbed off the floor, using the table and chairs for support, before glancing at the clock. "Oh my gosh. It's almost midnight. I'm going to bed."

"Got a hot date early in the morning or something?"

I rolled my eyes, gesturing behind me a silent goodnight.

As I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, I watched the stars twinkle outside my bedroom window. I internally wished that my life would go back to normal, that I could just repeat last year when all I had to think about was turning in potions essays and finding new ways to mock Malfoy.

Little did I know, that would be the last three hours that my life would ever be considered "semi-normal."


	18. Chapter 18

**I bet you all just LOVED that cliffhanger. I try not to do them too often, but I couldn't resist. Hopefully it got you all pumped up for chapter 18! This is where all the action really kicks into high gear so strap on your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!**

**As usual, would LOVE reviews! Haven't gotten too many lately. It's making me kind of sad. **

**Anyways,  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

I awoke a few hours after the radio broadcast with a sharp tap on my window. At first, I just threw the blanket over my head, hoping it would go away, but the tapping only got louder after a few minutes. I hurled the blanket to the end of the bed, padding over to the window in annoyance.

I flung open the window, barely holding in a shriek as a large, black owl flew into my bedroom, perching itself onto my trunk that I had yet to unpack. Clutching my chest in fear of a heart attack, I slowly made my way over to the owl, who stuck out his foot.

On it was a hastily rolled up piece of parchment clumsily tied on the bird's leg. I fumbled with the parchment, finally breaking up and ripping the parchment from the owl's leg. It glared at me reproachfully before exiting through the window, not before clipping me in the forehead with its wing.

I quickly unrolled the parchment, reality smacking me in the face once I recognized the bird.

_Natalie,  
>I need you to apparate over to the Malfoy Manor (library) as soon as you get this.<br>It's an emergency._

_-Draco  
>PS: don't splinch yourself. Merlin knows I don't have time to clean THAT up<em>

An address appeared on the parchment for a moment before it burst into flames. I dropped it on the floor in shock, shaking out my hand to make sure it didn't get burned.

I glanced up at the clock, cursing him when it read three in the morning. Didn't he have anything better to do than send me vague letters at all hours of the night? I rolled my eyes and, even though my head was telling me not to, threw on a loose sweatshirt and replaced my cotton shorts with a pair of leggings that reached just below my knees.

I swore to myself that I would never talk to that prick again, but he had saved me a number of times from the Carrows and was, obviously, in dire need if he were contacting me.

So, despite the fact that I hadn't passed my apparition test and I was sorely against apparating at any time of the day, I quickly turned in the air concentrating on the task at hand.

If this was a booty call, he was so dead.

I cracked into the library, falling backward as I lost my balance. A pair of strong, sturdy hands caught me before I hit the floor, pulling me up to a straightened position. I turned with my mouth wide open to demand what he wanted from me, but I felt the hand of Draco Malfoy close tightly over my mouth so I couldn't say anything.

"HERMIONE!" I heard a voice bellow from just outside the door. The voice sounded to be in both physical and emotional pain. I jumped at the voice, recognizing it immediately. "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" There were bangs on a thick door a floor below us for a moment before it went silent.

I whipped around to Draco, my eyes wide with terror. "This is your version of an emergency? Hermione and Ron are in your freakin' HOUSE?" I started to pace the floor anxiously, wrapping my arms around my chest, tightening the loose sweatshirt to my body. "Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, oh Merlin…"

"This IS an emergency Garcia!" Malfoy hissed as he pulled me farther away from the door. His face was filled with reluctant fear. "They call me down at two in the morning to determine if Potter and his mudblood loving cronies had been captured. I tried to be as vague as possible, but Weaselbee gave himself away."

I glared at him incredulously as I ignored his quip at our former classmates. "And your first instinct was to drag me into it? Are you seriously that stu-"

"We found it- we found it- PLEASE!" a hysterical voice cut me off right before a terrible scream ripped through the room.

I turned to Draco, gesturing frantically toward the door. "They are torturing an innocent GIRL. Aren't you going to do something?"

Draco stared at me as if I were a stranger he had never seen before. "Are you insane? Do you know who's out there? They had half a mind to call the Dark Lord as soon as they stepped in the-"

Another terrible scream traveled through the closed library door. I shut my eyes tight, thinking that if maybe I couldn't see anything, then I couldn't hear anything either. That only increased the issues, as horrible images flashed through my mind. I quickly tried to turn on my feet, but only staggered into a desk near the wall.

"Draco," I said slowly, "Why can't I apparate out?"

"HERMIONE!" came a shout from below as more banging ensued on the heavy door.

Draco had the dignity to look slightly put off as he shuffled his feet along the marble floor. "Well…you see…there's kind of been a charm placed over the house…we can't really leave."

I lunged over to him, pushing him hard in the chest. He didn't even move an inch, as he probably expected the blow as soon as the words came out of his mouth. "You mean to say I'm trapped in a house filled with merciless Death Eaters because YOU dragged me here?" I half yelled at him before he could scramble to clap a hand over my mouth.

Luckily, for me at least, my yells were drowned out by a woman screaming, "What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!" before another set of strangled cries erupted through the room, bouncing off the stone walls. I doubt my half-yells had even been noticed.

I struggled away from Malfoy, pacing the floor once again, with one hand covering my forehead and another hand resting on my hip. "I am so dead…I am SO dead…I am soooo dead."

The hall outside went quiet for a moment as the crazy woman's screams ended abruptly.

"But we can find out easily!" a man's voice resounded with a hopeful tone to it. "Draco! Fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"

Draco stormed over, placing one hand over my mouth and wrapped another arm around my body before hauling me unceremoniously toward a rather old looking grandfather clock and stuffing me in the crack that separated the clock and the wall. "Stay there," he said roughly, "And don't move a damn inch."

I felt myself start to shake as Draco scuttled down a set of stairs right below me, demanding that whoever was downstairs line up against the back wall. I slid down the wall, wrapping my hands around my legs and resting my forehead on my knees.

How in the world did I get myself into these situations? Obviously I needed to reevaluate my gut feelings.

I heard Draco climbing the stairs again, this time accompanied by another set of footsteps. That must have been the goblin the man had been asking about. Another hysterical scream broke from the silence, cutting right through my chest. I removed my hands from my legs and buried my head into them, trying to block out any more sound that resonated through the door.

It didn't work so well.

The screaming halted as soon as it began just as a crack sounded from the floor below. I furrowed my brow, curious to know what was going on beyond these doors. I shuddered a moment later, realizing what I had wondered.

Then an idea occurred to me. No one knew I was here, sans Draco. I could easily slip out from behind this cover and find out what was going on. And like my mother said, I always had a curiosity that could make the cat jealous.

Why disappoint her now?

As I disentangled myself from in the crack and started too slid slowly across the marble floor in an effort to not make any noise, the same voice that demanded Draco leave the sanctuary of the drawing room shouted again. "What was that? Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?" A brief pause as I continued to slide across the floor. "Draco- no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!"

I reached the door, pausing for a moment with my hand stretched out to the knob. It was now or never. I had a distinct feeling that I would regret this later, but you only live once. I grabbed a hold and slowly turned it, keeping my other hand on the wooden door in order to keep it from creaking.

I peeked through the crack I made in the door, observing a crazed looking woman with wild black hair as her face relaxed into what only could be a weird form of relief. I recognized her from the Wanted posters slapped all over Diagon Alley last year.

Bellatrix Lestrange.

Ah hell, Draco was going to pay for this one.

"Good," she said, casually clicking her wand toward the goblin. A deep slash appeared across his face as he fell to the ground at her feet. She kicked him aside with no remorse. "And now, we call the Dark Lord!"

My eyes widened as she placed her forefinger on the Dark Mark located just a few inches above her wrist. I was in big trouble now. Big, deep trouble.

"And I think," she said with a small smirk as she dropped next to Hermione's shaking figure on the floor, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her." I watched in horror as the werewolf approached Hermione with a rather sickening delight written on his face.

"NOOOOO!" a scream erupted from the other side of the room. A battered, dirty Ron Weasley flung himself out of the staircase- a wand pointed at Bellatrix. Harry flew into the room a second later, stunning Draco's father before rolling behind a sofa to avoid the jets of light Draco, Draco's mother, and Greyback threw at him.

It was like watching an action movie unfold right before my eyes. If this was what Draco's vacations were like, I wanted to be in on them more often. I zoned back in right as Bellatrix threatened Hermione with a knife, the corner cutting sharply into her throat.

"All right!" Harry shouted as he dropped a thick, black wand onto the floor. Ron did the same with his. Draco rushed forward the grab the two wands off the floor at his aunt's gesture. I rolled my eyes as he scurried back to her, standing just past her shoulder with three wand clutched tightly in his fist.

That's when a small movement in the corner of the room caught my eye. A small house elf, draped in a clean pillowcase and a few hats lopsided against his two, large ears, had peered out from behind an arm chair, evidently unsure of what to do.

I silently gestured to him, waving my hands erratically until he caught my eye. I pointed up to the crystal chandelier that hung just above the commotion. The house elf smiled widely before disappearing like a wisp of smoke. I watched as he reappeared a moment later, grinding against the base of the chandelier with gusto.

I smirked as the party below glanced at each other peculiarly, pausing for a moment to try and figure out where the noise was coming from. The chandelier trembled just as everyone looked upward. I covered my face, knowing the crash would cause pandemonium to erupt once again.

And boy, did it ever. Draco's aunt dropped Hermione to the floor as she threw herself aside with a scream. The chandelier dropped onto Hermione and the goblin with a sickening crash. Crystal flew in all directions, splintering the walls and embedding into people's skin. I saw Draco double over, blood running down from the cuts on his face.

Ron stumbled forward, gripping Hermione's upper arm and pulling her out from the demolished chandelier. Harry thrust forward, taking the opportunity to wrestle the wands from Draco. I noticed that Draco didn't put up much of a fight.

He didn't even appear to look mildly surprised. I rolled my eyes again. Boys…

Draco's mother pulled her son out of the way just in time to see Greyback fly up to the ceiling and then crash back to the ground. I fist pumped my hand into the air from my position on the floor. Harry Potter- 3, Death Eaters- 0.

Narcissa had her wand drawn, pointing it toward the only exit- the doorway on the other side of the room.

"You must not harm Harry Potter!" the little elf squeaked as he made his way forward, throwing his hand out toward Draco's mother. Her wand went flying from her hand, landing only a few feet from me. Draco watched the wand land and followed his gaze forward, catching my eye. He glared quickly, but gestured for me to stay put.

"-Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

One of the wands went sailing through the room. Ron caught it quickly, gripping firmly onto Hermione's arm before spinning tightly and disappearing into thin air.

Bellatrix let out a nasty scream of anger before lunging forward to grab the silver knife off the marble floor. I quickly figured out what she was going to do only seconds before it happened.

"No!" I yelled as I bolted from the floor, slipping slightly across the marble floor. Draco's eyes widened as he stood, frozen, next to his mother at the doorway.

And pause. Imagine my arms flung out in front of me, a horrified expression on my face, a crazed look in my eye as I run toward Bellatrix.

I have done some incredibly stupid things in my life. Seamus challenging me to drink 17 shots of firewhiskey on my seventeenth birthday and me accepting? Not smart. Coming after Draco in his "emergency situation" only to find myself amid merciless Death Eaters and the now-approaching Lord Voldemort? Dumb move.

But this…I'm pretty sure this takes the cake.

Just as soon as Bellatrix released the silver knife, I wrapped my arms around her waist and tackled her to the ground. We slid across the marble floor for a moment as her surprised eyes widened. A firm hand grasped my upper arm, dragging me to my feet.

"Are you insane?" Draco shouted at me as his mother rushed forward to help her sister up. "Do you honestly have a death wish written somewhere on your body?" He gave me the once over, as if it were really tattooed somewhere. I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly.

Bellatrix let out a scream of fury as she looked around the room and realized the Golden Trio had, once again, escaped.

"Can you stop that?" I yelled back, covering my ears dramatically as I glared at her. "You are going to crack my eardrums!"

"Draco," Narcissa said quickly as she set a gentle hand on mine and Draco's lower backs and pushed us toward the fireplace. "Take the girl and get out of here. The Dark Lord will be here any second…"

Bellatrix stopped destroying the house long enough to whip around to her sister, glaring at me with murderous eyes. I shrank into Draco slightly. "Cissy, the Dark Lord is almost here. We can't just let these two get away…he'll know!"

"Not if we don't say anything," Narcissa hissed back as she shoved us into the fireplace with surprising force for such a petite woman. Now I understood why Draco usually had looks of terrified respect when she was around. Bellatrix opened her mouth to argue once again, but her sister quickly cut her off. "This is my son, Bella. I can't let him hurt my son."

Bellatrix squinted her eyes at her sister, as if she was seeing her in a new light. "You've changed, Cissy. You can't do this. I won't let you do this." She lunged forward to nab the floo powder from the mantel, but Narcissa was quicker.

She threw the bag to Draco, who quickly untied it and yelled "Natalie Garcia apartment" before throwing down the powder. I clung to his arm as we started to spin. I coughed as I accidently inhaled a large amount of ash, but still managed to stay inside until we were spit out of the mantel, sliding across a wooden floor.

I glanced around, surprised to see Vanessa's old apartment instead of Oliver's. The living room was still empty- obviously a new tenant hadn't moved in yet.

"You live here?" Draco asked, evidently in shock. A slight sneer was attached to his face as he glanced around. "Where is the-"

"I don't live here, you idiot," I cut him off, a squirm of discomfort nestling in my gut at the expression on his face. "I used to live here." I grabbed his hand and quickly turned in the air, snapping us into the tight, rubber band-like feeling. We landed in Oliver's kitchen, where the clock read five in the morning.

No one was going to be awake for a few hours yet.

"I live here now," I said, dropping his hand roughly as I made my way toward my bedroom. "Sleep where you like, I don't care."

"Natalie," Draco replied, quietly, yet incredulously. I stopped in my tracks. Something about his tone made me realize all the things I had just witnessed- the screaming, the torturing, the dueling. Before I knew it, I was sprinting back at him with one thought in mind- rip him to shreds.

He caught me at arm's length, leaving me to swing, punch, and kick thin air as he held me a few feet away from his body.

"Natalie! Natalie! What the hell are you- are you crying?"

I stopped in an instant, wiping my face with the palm of my left hand. It came back wet.

"No!" I retorted stubbornly. "Your speech impediment just gave me a shower."

He rolled his eyes as he released me, eyeing me warily in case I had the desire to attack him once again. "Are you done now? You just tried to punch me. I'm fairly certain that's a-"

"Don't act cute right now," I snapped at him, crossing my arms over my chest and stomping my foot like a small child. "You almost got me killed. AGAIN! What the hell were you thinking- dragging me into a situation like that?"

Draco mustered up enough dignity to appear apologetic, but it quickly turned into anger. "Me? Almost get you killed? You tackled my aunt- Muggle style. Do you know what she would have done to you? She would have killed you with no hesitation. If you would have listened to me and stayed put-"

"Yeah," I cut him off, a sarcastic tone creeping into my voice, "If I would have stayed put, then your family would have never found me, and we would be mince meat right now because of stupid Moldywart."

Draco closed his mouth, a worried expression crossing his face. "That's my family you're talking about."

I shut my own mouth, staring at him with sympathy. I had forgotten the price his mother paid by getting us out of the house. I shuddered to meet the real You-Know-Who if all of his followers acted like Bellatrix. "I'm sorry," I muttered, but he didn't reply. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to think about my apology.

There was a moment of silence as he continued to stare at the floor in thought and I continued to stare anywhere else but at him.

"Welllll," I finally said, dragging out the last word more than needed, "Did you want to go back there and rescue your family? I'm sure we could-"

Draco shot his head up, glaring at me in response. "You really are stupid. We can't go back there. We would get killed."

I contemplated this for a moment, nodding my head in agreement. "You're right. That would be a rather flawed rescue plan."

The Blonde Boy Wonder ignored my comment, instead turning around to head toward the couch. I watched as he threw himself down onto it, pulling the blanket from the top of the couch onto his body. He turned so his back was facing me. Obviously the conversation was over.

"Oh! I just realized. It's going to be a sleepover. Do you want to bake cookies? Or braid my hair? I can paint your nails." I joked, smirking to myself as he mumbled something into the blanket. "What was that? You want me to give you a makeover?" I responded, clearly enjoying winding him up.

This time, he feigned sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**BAH! So sorry for the delay. If anyone is a college student…you understand my dying need to study for final exams. -_-  
>Chapter 19 is up and ready for all you fine folks to read!<br>Anyone excited for Pottermore? I am…because Errol didn't bring my letter when it first opened…damn Errol.**

**Anyways, as always: reviews are very much appreciated!  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

"So you're telling me," Padma said slowly over the chatter at breakfast the morning after we returned to school, "That Draco spent the last few days of Easter Break at your house?"

"Yes."

"As in…he slept in the same house as you did."

"Yes."

"And he didn't try to pull any moves on you? He didn't try to sneak into your bedroom and frisk you in the moonlight?"

I quickly picked up my cinnamon bun and threw it at her, causing her to lean to the side with a loud squeal. The bun sailed past her, nailing Ernie Macmillian in the back of the head. I let out a snort of laughter as a waved an apology.

It didn't even phase Ernie. He was used to it by now.

"You need to get yourself under control," I commanded, buttering a piece of toast since I had thrown the last cinnamon bun at the Hufflepuff table. "And I mean soon. Those teenage hormones of yours are ridiculous."

"You love me," my best friend grinned before shoveling a pile of scrambled eggs into her mouth. "Admit it. I know you-"

She was cut off by a frazzled-looking Neville slamming his book bag down on the table, effectively sending Padma's eggs flying off the fork, once again nailing Ernie in the back of the head. My own toast flew out of my hand as the surprise of his appearance caught me off guard. I eyed Neville curiously as he opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"What's going on, Neville?" I asked cautiously, buttering another piece of toast. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Nearly Headless Nick stopped in mid-air, sending me an incredulous look before flying off, his nose as far in the air as it would go without his head peeling backward.

"It was only an expression!" I called after him, receiving a few affronted looks from Ravenclaw members. "What?" I asked the Ravenclaw students, who turned away from me with looks of disbelief. "You've never heard of an expression before?"

Padma reached over and grabbed my chin, forcing it toward Neville. "They are Ravenclaw students, of course they've heard of an expression. Now, Neville was about to tell us something. Go on Neville. And quickly before Natalie rudely interrupts again."

I opened my mouth to interject, but Padma pointed her wand at me threateningly. I glared at her before turning my attention toward Neville, who looked like he was about to be sick.

"Ginny managed to send me a message," he said shortly, shaking his head to refuse the eggs that Seamus had offered him.

That caught our attention immediately. We had all been incredibly worried about the fate of the Weasleys since Ron escaped from the Malfoy Manor. Ginny hadn't come back on the train and, as far as Seamus knew from his mother, Arthur Weasley hadn't returned to work either.

"What did she say?" Padma asked quickly, leaning toward Neville so he wouldn't have to speak too loud. I glanced around the Hall, making sure students or otherwise weren't eavesdropping. The Carrows were seated on each side of Snape, both happily downing a pitcher of orange juice along with what seemed to be a bucket of oatmeal each.

McGonagall and Flitwick were eyeing them with looks of disgust. I would have been too, had I not been happy that they were engaged in something that didn't involve me for once.

"She said she was okay and that she wasn't hurt," Neville whispered. I had to lean over the table in order to hear him over the chatter and clatter of dishes and talking. I wrinkled my nose as I accidently scraped the strawberry jam against the front of my robes. "Her parents pulled her from school after hearing that Ron was captured."

The news of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's short detainment had evidently traveled very far, very fast, despite the fact that neither I nor Draco had really said anything to anyone. Vanessa questioned me quite heavily when she stumbled into the kitchen that morning, only to find Draco Malfoy asleep on our couch.

For the record, I told her that huge unicorns spewing rainbows and happiness had infested his house and that he couldn't stand the positive emotions emulating from said animals.

"Ginny heard from her brother Bill that Harry, Luna, Ron, Dean, and Hermione are staying at his place until they recover. But everyone is okay and well. For now at least."

I sat back on the wooden bench as he finished the news. Padma squealed with excitement at the announcement that her fellow Ravenclaw was alive and well. Draco had told me the day following our first sleepover (where no hair braiding or makeovers of any kind happened, unfortunately) that Luna was, in fact, locked up in his house, along with Ollivander the wand maker, Dean Thomas, and a short-tempered goblin.

Seamus gaped in surprise as he heard his best friend had been involved in the escape plot. He got up from the table, rushing to the owlery to write a letter to his mother, explaining the good news. I squirmed in guilt at the happy expression on his face.

I hadn't told Seamus about my conversation with Draco about the other prisoners. Mostly because I wasn't sure where he ended up after escaping from the Malfoy Manor. I was, of course, incredibly happy for Seamus, after hearing the gossip about his best friend.

On the other hand, I was a little jealous, because Seamus and I had been spending so much time together this year. I knew that he had been worried about Dean's whereabouts and whether he was dead or alive, but the topic of Dean hadn't ever really come up between us.

Maybe I was being a bit selfish. Kill me.

"How's your grandmother, Neville?" I asked politely, trying to change the subject. I didn't want Padma to find out that I had known about most of the news. She would definitely be angry with me.

He puffed out his chest as he smiled widely, "A couple Death Eaters tried to capture her the other day."

I stared at him, taken aback for a moment. Obviously he was happy about this, but I wasn't too sure why. "Uhh…Neville. That shouldn't be something that you're incredibly ecstatic about…"

Neville chuckled as he took a bite of toast. "The Death Eaters thought they could kidnap my grandmother to get a handle on me. They did it to parents with their kids, why not the other way around? Thing is, they weren't expecting a woman like my gran. One of them is still at St. Mungo's-" he paused to pat his shirt pocket, where I heard the crinkling of parchment paper- "she sent me a letter saying how proud she was of me. Says I got my parents' blood in me and to keep it up."

I smiled back at him, happy that he had gotten his grandmother's approval.

The warning bell signifying the start of the day rang loudly throughout the Hall. Many students, sans the Ravenclaws, groaned their reluctance to begin their classes after such a short break from school. A few of the seventh years glanced anxiously at each other as the beginning of class only meant one thing- starting the day off with Amycus.

I slouched off the bench, throwing my book bag over my shoulder as Padma and I eyed each other with contempt. Starting off the day with two Carrows in a row for the entire school year had been draining. Plus, with the news that Harry Potter had escaped from the clutches of the Death Eaters, once again, would probably mean that Amycus was not going to be a very happy camper.

Annnnnnd I was right.

"In," Amycus commanded as the door opened with a loud bang. I was surprised that the wooden door didn't splinter from the sheer force of it hitting the stone wall. I snuck past him, widening my eyes toward Padma as a gesture of how this class was going to go.

Seamus and Neville took a seat directly behind us near the back corner. We didn't bother to take out any parchment or quills, though I did have my wand stashed in the inside pocket of my robes.

"What's Alecto doing here?" I heard Seamus hiss to Neville as he dropped his own book bag onto the floor. I shot my head up, eyeing Alecto with uncertainty.

She was glaring at the class, sweeping her eyes over the students as they settled into their seats. Only Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared to be excited at the prospect or our "guest teacher." Even Draco seemed a little apprehensive.

The door slammed once again as Amycus made his way to the front of the room. I felt as if I were now trapped in a very bad monster movie. And Amycus was the monster.

"Due to current…circumstances," Amycus started as he eyed Draco knowingly. I immediately knew this could not be good. "We've decided to start class a lil'…differently today."

Alecto took a few steps toward the class, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked down menacingly at us. "We've tried being nice-" I heard a snicker erupt from behind us that quickly turned into a hacking cough, followed by a fake thump on the back. I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath. Now was not the time to get caught up in the bad behavior of the boys behind us.

"-Think it's time to use other means of communication."

I glanced up in time to see Alecto's hand flick toward her wand. I had just enough time to yell "Get down!" before she had shot a curse at us. I pushed Padma to the ground, where she knocked her head nastily against the desk before hitting the stone floor.

"Oh my gosh!" I said shrilly as I patted the now-bruised spot on her forehead. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"The hell was that for?" Neville shouted as he pushed himself off the floor using the edge of the table. The wall behind him where the curse had hit was still dusty from the stone chipping off.

"Don't make us bring in reinforcements, boy," Amycus said as he started to draw his own wand, walking toward Neville with a stern expression. I saw the side door leading to Amycus' office crack open, revealing a sliver of another masked man with black robes.

Then it hit me. They weren't aiming for me this time. They were aiming for Neville.

"Come on, boy. Off the floor," Alecto demanded as she pushed her way through the rows of desks, nearly knocking Parvati Patil out of her chair as her belly hit Parvati in the shoulder. "The dark lord don't need you no more. We'll make purebloods another way…"

Neville was glancing between Amycus and Alecto, who were both closing in on him. This was the one time I regretted sitting in the back corner of the classroom.

"We have to do something," I hissed to Padma as Neville officially backed into the corner, Amycus and Alecto both pointing their wands at the boy menacingly. Padma widened her eyes at me, but pulled her own wand from the inside of her robes.

"_Engorgio,"_ I said loudly, pointing my own wand from the floor to Alecto's right arm. Except with my bad aim, I didn't hit her arm. I hit her right butt cheek. The quick enlarging of the cheek threw her off balance, sending her flying into Ernie MacMillian and, then, onto the stone floor only a few feet from me.

I sent her a glaring smile as I pulled myself up from the floor, grabbing the back of Padma's robes as I went. Padma sent a half-hearted _Locomotor Mortis _toward Amycus, who repelled it with little force. But it was just enough for Neville.

He had slipped out of the room relatively undetected. Amycus let out a roar of frustration as he whipped his wand around the room, sending jets of light to catapult in every direction. Students screamed as they hit the deck, throwing themselves out of chairs and under desks.

That was, until Amycus hit the stone floor face first, sending a nasty crack resonating around the room. Behind him, stood Seamus Finnigan with his wand arm extended and his wand pointed mid-back at where Amycus once stood.

He was breathing heavy as Amycus lay unconscious on the floor. Alecto let out a roar of anger as she tried to crawl across the floor. My jinx still appeared to be working, however, as her large bun obstructed leg movement. I let out a snort of laughter at her just as she reached her wand, pointing it up at the students who were slowly rising off the floor.

Parvati and Lavender let out a peel of giggles at the sight of Alecto as they rushed from the room, robes and bags flowing behind them. After that, it was a race to reach the door. People were pushed aside and thrown to the floor once again as boys beat girls to the empty hallway. I stared incredulously at the sight of these "big and tough teenagers."

I felt someone grab onto my upper arm and start to drag me toward the door. I waved at Padma and Seamus, who were quickly trying to collect their own belongings before Alecto figured out the balance issue she was having.

I managed to stumble into my own walk once we were down the hallway. I caught the glimpse of platinum blonde hair that could only mean Draco dragged me out of the classroom. I ripped my arm from his hand, continuing to skip down the hallway in front of him.

"What are you so happy about?" he sneered as he grabbed my arm once again and led me to descend down the staircase that led to the Head Boy room. "You caused complete chaos in class today. And for what-?"

"Oh, not again," I cut him off as I waited outside the portrait for him to say the password. He shot me another glare before covering my ears with his hands to keep me from hearing the secret word. Once the portrait swung open, he unceremoniously pushed me inside, shutting the door behind him. "Why are we here?" I asked, shifting awkwardly on my feet as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Because this is the only place they can't come to find you," he muttered as he dropped his book bag onto the stone floor and turned to face me.

I shifted my face into an obnoxious 'girl-in-love' expression, reaching my hand up to his face to squeeze his cheek. He swatted my hand away before I could touch him.

"You're being really irrational, Garcia-"

I put my hands to my ears while I belted out a loud "LA, LA, LA" to block out the sound of his voice. He stared at me in disbelief as he grabbed my wrists and forced them to my sides.

"Hey!" I yelled as I struggled to free my arms from his grasp. "Get your hands off of me. This is illegal you know-"

Draco cut off my rant with a sharp kiss to my lips. When he realized I was responding positively, he softened the kiss, leading me backward toward the bed. I obliged with no complaint.

The back of my knees hit the side of the bed, sending me backward onto the soft sheets. He collapsed on top of me, but held his own weight, deepening the kiss. His fingers grazed my bare hips, tugging on the seam of my jeans. I pulled off his own robes, moving my hands up his shirt to touch each of his abdominal muscles contracting with my fingertips.

"Are you sure?" he pulled away from this kiss, breathing heavily against my neck. I nodded my head, pulling him down toward me once again.

He gripped the button of my pants, undoing the clasp with relative ease.

"You're pretty good at that, Mr. Malfoy," I joked as he started to slide the jeans-

Wait, you don't need to hear any of this. Use your imagination.


	20. Chapter 20

**We are officially in the twenties, my good readers! Thank you soooo much for all the wonderful reviews I got for the last chapter. I really appreciated them and they made me wish that I could update everyday for all my awesome readers! We are in the home stretch so be sure to keep checking for updates, as I'm hoping to keep them coming at a steady pace!**

**On a completely unrelated topic…I made my pottermore account. And I'm more excited than a 20 year old should be…**

**Anyways, more reviews would be lovely. Let me know how everything is turning out!**

**Read and enjoy!**

"What are we going to do about Neville?"

"I don't know, Seamus."

"Well, what are we going to about Luna?"

"I don't know Seamus."

"Well, what about Ginny?"

I sighed in frustration, shoving the library book on human transfiguration back onto a random shelf as I passed by it. Madam Pince, fortunately for me, was too busy lecturing a group of third years for trying to sneak into the Restricted Section. "Seamus, what do you want me to say? I don't know about Ginny. I don't know about Luna. I don't know about Neville. I just don't know anything, okay?"

Seamus pulled a face, biting the tip of his tongue as a way to keep a nasty retort to himself. Evidently, even that didn't work. "You obviously know a whole lot about Draco Malfoy. Maybe if you two weren't so busy gallivanting-"

I laughed hollowly, stuffing another transfiguration book into a small crevice in a bookshelf sectioned off for books on dragons. "That's quite rude of you, Mr. Finnigan. First off, we aren't gallivanting-"

"Yes, you are. Don't pretend you haven't been spending more time with Malfoy," he hissed, cutting me off. "We've all noticed it. I just would have thought you would be spending the extra time trying to help out the DA as much as possible."

I opened and closed my mouth for a moment, floored that he had suggested that I didn't care about the DA anymore. Ever since my…well, you know…with Draco, we had been spending more and more time together. Studying in the library, walking the halls after dinner, avoiding the Slytherin common room at all costs.

"Why would you say that?" I spun around, facing Seamus with a determined expression. "Of course I still care about the DA. But, it's not like this whole thing has been easy the past week. Wouldn't you agree?"

Seamus shifted uncomfortably on his feet. It was hard enough convincing people to stay after Michael Corner was tortured for trying to unchain that poor girl from the wall. Now that people realized why Neville had been chased out of the school, it was damn impossible.

"I've been trying really hard to recruit," Seamus finally said through his teeth as I turned slowly to shove the last transfiguration book into the section for fungi. "And all I'm saying is that-"

"Natalie Garcia! Don't you dare put that book where it doesn't belong! What do you think you're doing?"

I let out a groan of resignation as I watched the book rise from the shelf. I quickly covered my head with my book bag as the transfiguration book landed on top, effectively smashing a pot of ink. Black goo oozed from the bag, dripping into my hair and onto my face.

"Out! Out with you!" Madam Pince shrieked as she continually beat me with the book, smashing quills and flattening rolls of parchment. I scurried from the library without another glance back at Seamus.

Unfortunately, he didn't think the lecture was quite done yet.

"And another thing! Why haven't you even tried to help us look for Neville. You know he's been gone for two days-"

I tuned him out at that point, trying to wipe the ink from my eyes, but instead smearing it across my forehead and cheeks. Seamus had taken it upon himself to step into Neville's place as leader of the DA- something that, though I loved Seamus to death and back, he epically failed at.

"-can't believe you would just sit around with the dark lord's HEIR, for Merlin's sake," he finally finished, taking a deep breath as he glared at me with contempt. "You didn't listen to a word I just said, did you?"

I shook my head, gazing up at him with wide, innocent eyes as I took out my wand. I started to siphon off the dripping ink. "Though, for the record, I don't think You-Know-Who has an heir. And if he did, I highly doubt Draco would fill the shoes."

Seamus snorted, taking out his wand to try and help me clear the goo. I held out my hand, shaking my head vigorously. Merlin only knows he would probably blow me to smithereens. "Only because the only bright thing about him is his hair. Honestly, Natalie, what do you see in him?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but was saved the opportunity by another who cut in.

"I resent that, Finnigan."

I looked over my shoulder to see Malfoy leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He had a set expression of determination on his face, mixed heavily with a glare toward one of my best friends. "The question should really be," he went on, pushing himself off the wall with his shoulder as he sauntered closer to us, "Why should she be friends with a filthy half-blood like you. Can't even cast a simple charm or brew a simple potion without setting it on fire first."

I rolled my eyes as Seamus pumped out his chest, taking a step closer to Malfoy in a way that he probably thought was menacing. Boys- they would never learn.

"And I suppose you think you're the right man for the job?" Seamus jibed, sticking his pointer finger into Malfoy's chest, shoving him backwards a little bit. "Dragging her into a house filled with death eaters. That's real manly of you."

Draco's face went red with anger as he took a step toward Seamus, effectively closing the gap between them. "Don't touch me, filth. You have no idea what you're talking about. I suggest keeping your opinions to yourself."

I tried to insert myself into the middle of their love-fest, but was pushed out by both Seamus and Draco, who hadn't broken eye contact. I huffed with frustration, dropping my book bag to the floor. Black ink leaked out onto the stone.

"Just kiss and makeup already," I managed to say as I squeezed my petite body between the two teenage boys. They weren't able to push me out of the middle this time. "You two are completely ridiculous." I placed a hand on each of their chests and tried pushing them apart, but it was like trying to push two brick walls apart with my bare hands. Utterly impossible.

"You aren't even worth my time, Finnigan," Draco snorted as he took a step back. I was still pushing his chest at that point, so the force paired with him taking a step back caused me to stumble slightly away from Seamus. I managed to catch my balance before running headlong into Malfoy.

Seamus shook his head, picking my book bag up off the floor. "Come on, Natalie. Let's get out of here. I have better things to do."

Draco grabbed a hold of my upper arm, dragging me closer to him. I stumbled again, shouting a quick 'hey!' as I crashed into his front. "Sorry, Finnigan. We have things to discuss. She's coming with me."

My best friend dropped my bag onto the floor unceremoniously, crushing the rest of the ink pots that Madam Pince had missed. Mixed colors of ink spilled onto the floor, pumping out of my book bag as if being poured from a pitcher.

"You can't order her around. She isn't your property," Seamus said heatedly as he made a move to grab my other arm, "She can make her own decisions and her decision is to come with me."

Draco laughed humorlessly as he pulled me a few steps down the empty corridor, keeping me out of range of Seamus' grabbing hands. "Look who's ordering her around now. Go away, Finnigan, before you hurt yourself."

I wrestled my arm out of Draco's grasp, shoving him away from me with as much force as I could muster. Which, in reality, only sent him staggering a step back before he regained balance.

"Seamus is right. I can make my own decisions." Seamus sent a triumphant smirk toward Draco, who responded with a dangerous glower. "And my decision is to stay away from both of you."

"Natalie-" Seamus began, but I cut him off with a quick shake of my head.

"No, you both are acting like a couple of vultures fighting over a dead animal. I am not a piece of meat and until you both learn that, I don't want anything to do with either of you." I picked up my bag dramatically and swung it over my shoulder.

Instead of retreating down the hallway in the grand exit manner I had planned in my head, I slipped on the puddle of ink, crashing onto the stone floor with a loud 'oomph!' I picked myself up off the floor, robes dripping with colored ink as I turned to face the two boys. Seamus seemed genuinely concerned for my well being, whereas Draco was nearly doubled over with laughter.

"Just pretend that didn't happen," I said stubbornly as I stuck my nose into the air and stomped off down the hallway, ink dripping in a trail behind me.

Why did they have to ruin a perfectly good day? Why did they have to fight over my well being without actually asking for my input into the situation? Why did I have to slip in that puddle of ink, clearly ruining my dramatic exit? "That'll teach them," I grumbled to myself, hitching my bag higher onto my shoulder in a highly irritated fashion. "That'll teach them not to mess with me."

"Talking to yourself, are ya now?"

I jumped in surprise, startled at the voice that resounded from behind me. In my irritation and anger, I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going. Now that I was looking around, trying to find something familiar, I noticed that I had unfortunately wandered into a lair.

Amycus and Alecto's lair to be exact.

"Exactly who we was lookin' for," Alecto said with a wide grin, baring all her teeth. "Wasn't we, Amycus?"

I hadn't even noticed Amycus lurking in the shadows of the empty hallway. He stepped from a dark alcove, twirling his wand threateningly between his fingers. They both started to walk toward me, cornering me in the hallway much like they did to Neville in the classroom only a few days previously.

Now I was really reminded of vultures fighting over a dead animal. Leave it to me to create an even better situation for myself.

"We've been hearing that your daddy has had some issues with the Dark Lord lately. Fallen out of place, he has," Amycus taunted me, leaving his sisters side to try and push me closer to the corner of the hallway. "Can't be pullin' no family card, now can ya?"

Alecto shrieked with glee as she shot a jinx at me. I dodged it just in time, as it dug into the wall right where I my back had touched only a moment before. She had given me just enough time to notice one thing- the jet of light was shockingly green.

This was not good.

"Can't dance forever," Amycus grinned as Alecto shot another jinx at me. I rolled on the floor, creating a stamp like image on the stone from the ink on my clothes. It would have been funny, if not for the circumstances causing it. "You'll be going straight to Azkaban tonight."

Alecto lowered her wand for a moment to lean closer to me. "And I'm sure the dementors have a special treat for insubordinate teenage girls…"

"Should I daresay that they would just love to give you a kiss," Amycus tacked onto his sister's statement with more happiness than he should have. The joy and elation on the two of their faces distracted them for a second longer than they had expected.

Giving me just enough time to shoot up from the floor. I squeezed through the crack between their two bodies as quickly as I could, pushing aside their fat bellies, my hand sinking grossly into their flesh.

"Oh no you don't, girly," Amycus hissed as he made a grab at my robes. I dropped my book bag from my shoulder, disentangling my robes from my arms as he pulled at the fabric. I had just enough time to retrieve my wand from the twisted article of clothing before making a break for it.

"_CRUCIO!" _a voice behind me bellowed. I ducked my head under my arms as I pounded down the hallway. The spell narrowly missed me, as it struck the stone floor close to my feet.

"_CRUC-_ damn it!" I heard as I turned the corner, disappearing from their view. Footsteps bounded behind me, closing in faster than I had thought possible for their size. "Can't run forever, girly!" The voice of Amycus Carrow was too close for comfort as I turned another corner, disappearing from view once again.

I was running out of breath. There was a stitch in my side that made it damn near impossible to stand up straight. My legs were burning from exhaustion. The adrenaline previously pumping through my veins, giving me the energy to make my quick escape was fading fast.

That was, until a hand stretched out from behind a tapestry, closing around my upper arm and pulling me into a black alcove. I stumbled, falling onto my knees. The bones cracked nastily against the stone floor, sending waves of nauseating pain up to my stomach. A hand clapped over my mouth just in time to keep me from yelling out a scream of agony and shock.

"Don't say anything," the unrecognizable voice whispered roughly in my ear. I sat in silence, my body shaking from head to toe. My knees were throbbing painfully, but I listened to this stranger, trusting him for some reason unknown to me.

"Where did she go?" I heard Alecto demand of her brother. Her loud footsteps faded down the hallway as she continued her search, but by this point the stranger was pulling me gently further into the alcove.

Which turned out to not be an alcove at all. The corridor was hidden behind the tapestry, winding narrowly through the middle of the castle. We climbed a few sets of rickety, stone stairs. My rescuer still didn't say anything, but I followed him anyways.

"Shhh," he said gruffly as he held out his hand to stop me from walking any further. "I have to check and make sure the coast is clear."

As he pulled back another tapestry and stuck his head into the empty corridor, the light flooding into the dark passageway lit up his features. And I realized why I had trusted his voice so much. Because I knew exactly who it was.

"Neville?" I shrieked in excitement as I hugged him tightly around the middle. He let out a breath of surprise as I tightened my arms around his waist. "Neville, we've all been so worried about you! Where have you been? What's been going on? What happened after-?"

He cut me off by placing a hand over my mouth, gesturing for me to be quiet as politely as he possibly could. "I'll show you when we get there. For now, shut your trap Garcia."

I smiled into the palm of his hand, glad that he was doing well enough to snap at me. He cocked his head toward the corridor. "The coast is clear."

I followed him across the hall, stopping in front of a blank wall directly opposite the tapestry. I glanced around, the surroundings becoming familiar to me immediately. "The room of requirement?" I furrowed my brow, glancing up at him in confusion. "This is where you've been staying?"

He opened his eyes just as the door appeared in the stone wall, opening it quickly and shoving me in unceremoniously. He shut the door behind us, bolting the lock to ensure our safety.

"Neville, what is going on? Where have you been? Why haven't you been coming to classes? We've all been so worried about you!" I spewed out as I walked around the newly decorated room. Large quidditch posters hung from the stone walls, which were also draped with crimson and gold material. Gryffindor pennants were tacked to the ceiling, nearly brushing the top of Neville's head as he walked under them.

A single crimson hammock hung in the center, swinging gently as he sat down in it.

"Neville," I said slowly, looking around the room once again, "have you been staying here?"

The once-shy boy nodded his head silently, glancing around the room with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "After they came after me, I knew they had enough. My blood, despite being pure, is no longer a necessity to them. I became too much of a hassle to have around." He grinned broadly before continuing. "So I made a break for it. I knew I had to stay in the castle- it's the safest place to be right now. So, I stumbled on the Room of Requirement and it dawned on me. I could stay here and easily conceal the location, as long as I was careful."

I brushed my fingers gently over a piece of gold material that cascaded gently down the wall. "What about food? And your things?"

"Got my stuff in the middle of the night. Snuck back into the Gryffindor common room one night. As for food…" He paused to take a deep breath. "I've gone down to the kitchens a few times. Ariana's been a great help too."

I cocked my head to the side. "Who the heck is Ariana?"

He pointed over his shoulder to a portrait of a young girl, her hair blowing in the invisible breeze. She smiled at me softly before turning to walk back out of the picture. "Ariana is the last passageway out of this place. I needed some help with food and water, of course the room itself can't provide it, but it did me one better." He pushed himself from the hammock and waltzed over to the frame, yanking on it for a moment. It swung open with relative ease, revealing another dark, murky passageway. "This one leads to The Hogs Head. Aberforth has been willing to help me out."

I didn't say anything, unsure of what to say. Neville sheepishly sat back down on the hammock, watching me with careful eyes.

"You can stay here, you know," he said quietly, rocking back and forth. A green and silver hammock appeared in the corner of the room, surrounded my green and silver drapes that hung from the wall exactly like the Gryffindor ones did. "Go get your stuff after curfew and bring it back here. I know Amycus and Alecto were after you. I heard them chasing you down the hall."

I took a deep breath, taking in the surroundings.

"So, we would be in hiding."

Neville nodded his head in a wary agreement. He evidently liked the idea just as much as I did. I knew everyone would be incredibly worried about me, but he did have a point. Amycus and Alecto were officially after us now. It was no longer safe to saunter around the castle in the daylight.

And the less people that knew we were here, the better.

I took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out slowly. "I'll stay, but on two conditions."

Neville perked up slightly, curious of my terms.

I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at my new residence, shaking my head. "No green. I don't want anything Slytherin related in here." As if on cue, the green drapes turned into a deep shade of purple. I nodded my approval. "And second." I gestured over to the back corner of the room, which consisted of a shower, sink, and toilet surrounded only by a poorly-constructed wooden fence.

"We absolutely have to do something about that bathroom."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21, officially here! As you all know…things are getting a little heated so make sure to stay tuned and watch for updates!**

**Thanks so much to all you wonderful reviewers (and all you sneaky readers out there as well!) as you are making this impossibly easy for me to write. Keep up the good reviewing!**

**As always, read and enjoy**

Days crept by slowly as Neville and I made our accommodations permanent in the Room of Requirement. I had snuck out the night Amycus and Alecto tried to imprison me in Azkaban to get my things. Draco Malfoy had fallen asleep in the common room- a rarity, considering nowadays he rarely leaves his Head Boy dorm unless class or meals presented themselves.

I didn't wake him.

I managed to get out of the common room and into the Room of Requirement in a record breaking amount of time for all the things I had to drag up seven flights of stairs. I was lucky that I wasn't caught, to be honest.

Neville and I spent our days tuning up on curses and jinxes, learning about magical artifacts, and practicing charms we thought would be useful after graduation in June. If we made it that far, that is. It wasn't really a talked about subject- the war, I mean. We usually found other things to distract ourselves with. And we didn't want to remind each other that while we were safe in the confines of the unplottable room, our friends and family were still stuck in the dangerous situation brewing just outside the four walls.

At night, we took turns sneaking from the room- getting fresh air, stealing from the potion ingredient's cupboard to keep up on our potions work, bringing next day's food with us from the kitchens. I felt like a ninja most nights and, when it was my turn, I spent the evenings doing barrel rolls across hallways, exploring dark passageways, and ducking between alcoves and statues whenever a threat presented itself. I needed to have my own fun somehow.

One thing that proved to be more useful than I ever thought possible was the picture of Ariana that appeared just a day after Neville initially moved into the Room of Requirement. We used that passageway more than we went into the castle.

Aberforth, the barman at the Hog's Head, provided us with food, fresh water, and news from the outside world in the form of the Daily Prophet. Not that the Daily Prophet was worth a lick these days, but it was nice to stay informed.

"Are you playing Exploding Snaps again?" I laughed at Neville from the bathroom (which had transformed into something a little more useful than a shack in the corner of the room, thank Merlin) as I washed my hands. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

I stuck my head through the doorway, giggling when I saw his soot covered face and half an eyebrow missing. The cards were scattered in pieces across the carpeted floor. Dust and ash was falling through the air, coating his lap in gray matter.

He grinned at me, flashing white teeth that clashed heavily against his sooty face. "I can't sit around and study all day, you know. Except, maybe Herbology. I'm still rubbish at these charms you know." He kicked the open Charms book aside as he stretched his legs from the crossed position on the floor.

"You're not rubbish," I corrected him, drying my hands on a crimson towel that hung from a silver towel rack. "You just need more practice that's all. And you've gotten loads better since we've been here and it's only been five days." I made my way across to my side of the room and stuck my feet into a pair of ratty sneakers.

"Are you going out again tonight?" he said slowly, pushing himself up off the floor with a low groan. He had been sitting on the floor for quite awhile. "You know that Aberforth said he would get us anything we needed so we didn't have to go back out in the castle. Remember last night?"

It had been a close call, I'll give him that. I disappeared behind a tapestry (plate of bacon in hand) just in time for Alecto and Amycus to saunter around the corner, talking gruffly amongst themselves about the missing students.

Amycus had stopped a few feet short of the tapestry, sniffing the air loudly. "Does it smell like bacon to you down this hallway?"

I mentally kicked myself for carrying around a plate of food with such a heavy aroma. But I had really wanted some bacon!

Alecto hit him the shoulder, pushing him past the tapestry and on down the hallway. "The elves are making breakfast, you oaf. Of course it's going to smell like bacon."

I breathed a sigh of relief as they turned down another hallway, disappearing from view.

"I'll be more careful tonight," I said with a casual shrug, zipping up a light jacket. Spring was slowly turning to summer, but the nights around the castle were still pretty chilly. "I can't stay cooped up here forever, Neville. I promise I'll be careful though."

His expression read worried, but he let me past with a casual shrug that mirrored my own. "Bring back something good from the kitchen while you're out there. I'm tired of goat cheese and crackers for today."

I chuckled softly as I made my way toward the door. "You got it boss."

The door to the Room of Requirement opened slowly as I stuck my head into the hallway, making sure it was empty. The room let us out at a different spot every time we left, proving for a sometimes difficult situation when we were trying to find our bearings in the castle.

I had learned the hard way to never ask a portrait for directions, as they usually had more time on their hands than we did and enjoyed sending a student down the wrong path. This time, though, it was clear that I was pretty close to the Great Hall.

The marble staircase was looming in front of me, looking oddly eerie in the moonlight. The Room of Requirement door shut with a loud snap, effectively disappearing into the wall as soon as the lock clicked into place.

I was on my own now.

I walked through the dark hallway, enjoying the light breeze that wafted in through the windows. Being stuck in the Room of Requirement all day left me dying for fresh air. The breeze blew back up hair, tickling the back of my neck.

"You moron! How could you do that to her?"

The voice was so loud and so close that it made me freeze out of fear. I crept closer to the racket, stepping into a shadowy alcove just outside of a dimly lit classroom. I was shocked to see an angry Seamus facing me, but unable to see me. His hands were balled into tight fists as he glared at the person standing opposite him.

Draco Malfoy.

"You think that I had something to do with her missing?" Malfoy drawled out, trying to appear bored with the conversation, but I could tell by his stance that he was fuming by the accusation. "Why would I turn her into the Carrows? You've obviously gone mental from all the junk you've made explode these past few years."

"I'm not mental," Seamus hissed more defensively than necessary. "I know you've got something to do with her disappearing. You had a fight one minute and the next minute she's gone. No trace."

Draco sighed as he leaned against the stone wall of the classroom. "Are you remembering the same fight that I am? Because she wasn't mad at me, she was mad at you. All her stuff is gone from the dormitories. Did you think that, maybe, she's gotten some sense in her head and abandoned you here?"

I let out a sharp breath at what Draco was saying. Leave it to him to wind up Seamus more than he needed to.

"She didn't abandon me here," Seamus retorted through gritted teeth. "I know something bad has happened to her. I know you had something to do with it."

Malfoy ignored the accusation, once again choosing to wind up Seamus rather than address the situation at hand. "Poor, half-blood Finnigan. Loony Lovegood leaves, Ginny Weasel ducks out, even coward Longbottom can't take the stress anymore. Everyone who was your friend has left you here without saying a word. Don't you think you should- don't you point your wand at me!"

Seamus had drawn his wand out of anger, pointing it shakily toward Draco, who had pushed himself off the wall. Malfoy had drawn his own wand and was now poiting it steadily back at Seamus with cool indifference.

"Lower your wand, Finnigan, or you're going to regret it."

My best friend laughed hollowly, the shakiness of his hand slowly evening out. "I'm going to regret it? If I find out that something has happened to Natalie and you're the cause of it…I'm going to come after you."

Malfoy let out a low growl. "You think that I would hurt her, do you, half-blood filth? That just because I have family that obeys the Dark Lord that means I automatically hurt everyone I come into contact with?"

Seamus crossed the room in record time, pushing Malfoy hard in the chest. Draco only staggered back a few steps before retorting with a punch aimed at Seamus' chin. Seamus ducked in time, leaving Draco to swing right over Seamus' head.

"Are you serious right now?" Malfoy shouted as he grabbed the scruff of my best friend's robes and pulled him to his feet. "You're going to try and fight like a muggle? Take out your wand and curse me like a real man." He let go of the robes, sending Seamus stumbling across the room. "Come on, Finnigan, stand up. You're the one who wanted his fight." He laughed humorlessly. "Now you've got on. Stand up."

Seamus used the nearest desk to pull himself to his feet. He quickly wiped away the blood dripping from his lower lip, not taking his eyes off of Draco. "_Petrificus-"_

"_Protego!" _Draco blocked easily with a simple wave of his wand. "_Stupefy!"_

Seamus hit the stone floor in order to avoid the curse flying at him, biting his lip roughly as he smacked his chin against the floor.

Enough was enough. I needed to step in, to put an end to this. They would both be incredibly upset that I didn't even leave a hint as to where I went, but I couldn't let each of them think that the other was responsible for my disappearance. I took a deep breath and was about to step out of the dark alcove when I heard another voice yell from down the hall. Loud footsteps stomped across the stone as the person drew closer to the classroom. I tucked deeper into the shadows when I realized who it was.

Amycus Carrow had happened upon the scene.

"Oi, what is this?" he questioned loudly, pushing Malfoy off to the side to get a full look at the scene before him. Seamus was hunched over, blood dripping off his lower lip and into a small puddle on the floor. "I said, what is this?"

Malfoy shrugged, leaning casually against the wall once again. He fell into silence as Amycus stormed across the room and pulled Seamus to his feet. Seamus placed a sleeve against his fat lip, trying to stop the bleeding from dripping onto the stone.

"Are you going to answer me, boy?" Amycus said, roughly shoving Seamus away from him.

The brown haired boy just shook his head, not removing his sleeve from the still-bleeding lip. Amycus glared between the two of them before making his way toward the doorway, pushing Malfoy through it.

"Just know," Amycus said slowly as he drew his wand from his pocket, "That the only way to win a duel is by doing this…" He spun around, pointing his wand directly at Seamus before yelling, "_Crucio!"_

The curse hit Seamus so fast that he didn't even have time to prepare himself for it. He screamed out in pain, falling to his knees as he doubled over. Every muscle in his body seemed to be twitching in all sorts of directions, begging for the pain to end. Malfoy appeared stunned for a moment, before grabbing Amycus' arm and forcing it away from Seamus.

"He's the only one that we know of that's left," Draco said quietly, leading Amycus away from the door, "We can't torture him. We need him alive to find the others."

Amycus must have agreed, because he went with Malfoy, no complaints. I waited until they were safely around the corner before sprinting into the classroom, falling on top of the groaning Seamus with gusto. I patted his cheek, trying to get him to open his eyes.

"Come on, Seamus. It's me. It's me. Open your eyes," I mumbled as I pulled on his arms to get him in a seated position.

Seamus scrunched his eyebrows and blinked a few times before opening his eyes all the way. He stared back at me with a blank expression that made me think the world was spinning around him. "Natalie?" he said softly, questioning whether he was awake or not.

"You're not dreaming," I assured him, flicking him in the upper lip. He groaned in pain, covering his lip with his hand and trying to push my fingers away.

"You would hit me in a spot that's already sore."

I grinned at him, glad that he was finally tuning into the real world. "It was more a flick than a hit," I corrected him before flinging my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight embrace. "Oh Merlin, Seamus I've really missed you."

Seamus pulled away from me, staring back at me with concerned eyes. "Where did you go, Natalie? You had us all worried sick!"

I sat back on my heels, pulling a guilty expression onto my face. "I'm sorry. The Carrows cornered me after our fight. They tried sending me to Azkaban! Anyways-" I cut him off as he started to open his mouth, his eyes widening in disbelief, "Neville saved me from that and we've been hiding in the Room of Requirement." I rocked back onto my heels, standing slowly from my kneeled position on the floor. "Are you okay to stand?"

Seamus nodded, using both me and the desk nearest us to pull himself up to his feet. He staggered for a moment, hanging off my neck before he could regain his balance. He nearly pulled both of us back down to the stone floor.

"What about Padma? Is she okay?" I asked as we made our way across the room and into the dark corridor. "How did you and Draco start fighting again? What the hell is going on around here?"

Seamus sucked in sharply as he put more weight onto his left ankle. His limp was prevalent and I knew it would take us awhile to get up to the seventh floor. I silently prayed that we would get up there without being noticed.

"Amycus and Alecto…" He stopped to hiss through gritted teeth at the pain pumping through his body as we ascended a set of stairs. "They cornered Padma during a Muggle Studies class, asking where you had gone. She got away, but she disappeared two days ago. No one has seen or heard from her."

A tinge of worry spread through my body like wildfire. My best friend since first year, the one person who had stood by my side through everything was missing.

"I'm the only one left," he went on as we made our way slowly up another set of stairs. Portraits whispered their disapproval as we passed, but didn't say anything too loudly. Evidently that was the only way they could show their rebellion against this new regime. "The rest of the DA members…Anthony, Michael, Ernie…they've all gone missing too. Hiding in empty classrooms by the sounds of it."

We hit the fifth floor landing when Seamus needed to take a break. He plopped down on the stone, rubbing his ankle roughly while grunting in pain.

"And the fight?" I pressed on, taking a seat next to him on the cool floor.

Seamus looked over at me, throwing his face into a sharp relief by the dim lighting of the hallway. A bruise was coloring just above his left eyebrow; his lip had swollen to the point of obstructing his top lip. A gash on his cheek was set deep into the flesh. That one must have been a few days old.

"I was so sure he did something to you," he muttered, still rubbing his ankle, "I was so sure that you pissed him off when you stood up to him."

I shook my head, taking his hand into mine and clenching it tightly onto my lap. "He wouldn't do anything to me. But he doesn't know where I am either." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I want you to come to the Room of Requirement with us. Stay there awhile, lay low. It's dangerous now that they know you're the only one left."

Seamus started to shake his head, but I stood up quickly, pulling one of his arms up with me. "Nope, you don't have a choice. Come on, boy." I started to whistle, jokingly patting my lap as if he were a dog.

He laughed easily, using the railing to pull himself up once again.

"Alright, I'm in, but only if we can get the word out. I want everyone from the DA safe in the room with us."


	22. Chapter 22

**I know…I'm terrible. But my finals are over (finally!) and I'm going to be putting all my efforts into this story now that it's SUMMER BREAK! Whoop whoop! **

**Thanks to all my wonderful readers who have stuck in there, even though I'm the worst updater on the planet. Love each and every one of you!**

**Anyways, reviews are always welcome so make sure to leave one before you go!  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

"Wow, why didn't we think of that earlier?," I said with a slight awe to my voice as Neville fished the coin from his pocket, allowing the light from the window to shine off it majestically. It refracted into my eyes, nearly blinding me before I took a step back and put a hand in front of my face. "Hey, be careful with that thing, Longbottom. You're going to hurt someone!"

Neville ignored me as he took out his wand and tapped the coin a few times. It blazed a warm orange color before falling back into the shiny gold. The numbers on it were changed.

"Let's hope this works," Seamus muttered as Neville pocketed the coin and tapped it with his right hand.

Neville had jumped on board immediately with the thought of bringing all the DA members into the room of requirement, especially after Seamus showed up beaten and tired.

I glanced over the two of them, slightly surprised by what I saw. Neville was no longer the scared, timid boy that he had been even up until last year. There was a firm defiance nestled deep into his bright eyes, which were surrounded with bruises and scars of this past year. Smirks and smiles rarely played on his face, as it was now usually plagued with a set jaw.

Seamus still had his boyish exuberance, though I could tell that was slowly starting to diminish. A large gash splayed across his left cheek, swelling that half of his face quite dramatically. If those two had changed so drastically in the last year, I silently wondered what I looked like to other people.

My thoughts were interrupted by Neville's low voice.

"-Should go out there and see if we can round anyone up," he said as he started to walk toward the door. "Seamus, you take the right side. Natalie, will you stay in here to make sure we can get back in?"

I nodded my head, grinning at him as I did so. "No problem, boss. I'll do some redecorating while I'm in here."

He shot me a look that clearly said he wasn't amused. I waved my hand casually back at them, dismissing them eagerly from the room.

"And don't leave!" Neville demanded at the last minute, right before Seamus swung the door shut, gesturing a silent apology toward me.

I sighed into the empty room, throwing myself onto a giant pouf. It was genuinely boring here now that there was only the three of us. It did get exciting for a little while once Seamus came…but then lolled into this monotonous life once again.

I don't know why we didn't think of the coins earlier…that would have been the most obvious answer to run with. Evidently our stress levels were a little higher than intended.

The door swung open just as I had placed my feet on a footstool that appeared right before the pouf. I glanced up with the words "well that was fast" on the tip of my tongue, until my tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth by the sight in front of me.

"Parvati? Lavender?" I jumped up from the pouf, tripping over the footstool to greet the two girls, accompanied by Seamus. I threw one arm around each girl's neck, pulling them into a tight squeeze.

"Erm…Natalie," Lavender said as she patted my back quite firmly. "I can't breathe. Mind letting us go?" Parvati had started making a strange string of choking noises that I'm sure were fake.

I pulled back, beaming at them happily as they rubbed the front of their necks with relief.

"How did you find them so fast?" I asked Seamus breathlessly as they dropped their shoulder bags onto the ground with large thuds. A couple more poufs appeared next to the one I had been seated in a moment before.

"Actually, they were on their way here." He put an arm around my shoulder and led me away tactfully as the two girls pulled out a bag of chocolate and started to attack it with gusto. "Listen, I have some bad news."

I looked at him with a serious expression, clapping a hand onto his shoulder. "You're a eunuch. I already know. You don't have to say anything else. I'm here for you-"

Seamus brushed me off with a quick roll of his eyes. "No, idiot. It's about Padma." He paused for a second to make sure he had my attention. "She's missing."

I swear the Earth stopped moving for that fraction of a minute. I stared at Seamus with a face filled with disbelief. I staggered backward, seeking one of the poufs located a few feet from where the news had been broken to me. "I need to sit down."

My ears were ringing. My stomach felt nauseous. The room was spinning around me, as if I were in a never ending cycle of the Floo Network.

"Merlin Natalie!" Parvati squealed as I accidently sat down on her lap, crushing the brown paper bag of chocolates they had evidently stolen from the kitchen on their way up here. "Get your own seat will ya?"

"Have you told her yet?" I pointed my thumb back at Parvati as she unceremoniously dumped me out of her lap, grumbling about my fat butt squishing her candy.

Parvati's eye narrowed, glancing between Seamus and myself with determination. "Have you told me what?" She turned to look at Lavender, who had taken a sudden interest in the fringe that hung off the bottom of her book bag. "What haven't you told me?"

Lavender sighed, turning toward her best friend with a sorrowful expression. "Parvati, I didn't want to worry you. It's been a really hard few days trying to keep it from-"

"What do you mean a few days?" I said shrilly, turning toward Seamus with a whirlwind of emotion. "You forgot to mention that little detail didn't you?" Seamus had enough dignity to appear guilty.

"Will everyone sans Lavender just shut up unless you're going to tell me what's going on!" Parvati finally shrieked, effectively shutting me up. I stared at Lavender, who was fidgeting nervously with her skirt.

"Well," she began once again, after my very rude interruption. "It's just…you're sister's gone missing."

I imagined that's how my face appeared after the news broke to me. Dead eyes, blood draining from her face, a rigid upper body that seemed to brace for more bad news, as if the words were going to physically attack her.

"What do you mean she's gone missing? We have all the same classes together! Except…" she trailed off, seemingly racking her brains for some memory that wasn't there. "I haven't seen her in a few days. I figured she was catching up on some homework or getting private lessons somewhere. She always said she wanted private lessons…are you sure she's gone missing?"

Lavender scrunched her face into one bearing large amounts of sympathy as she placed a hand over her best friend's. "Terry Boot told me in class the other day. No one had seen her since the day after Natalie disappeared. Remember how Alecto cornered her in class the other day?"

I snapped my head to look at Lavender, panic rising up in my chest. "Alecto cornered her the other day? Are you serious?"

Lavender and Parvati both nodded, Parvati appearing much more miserable at this point. "I should have told her to come stay with me. I didn't think it was that big of d-deal b-because A-A-Alecto was always going after you t-two." Parvati was almost at the point of sobbing now.

Lavender scooted as close to her best friend as the pouf allowed, throwing a distant yet comforting arm over her shoulder. "It's not your fault!" she started to say in a soothing voice as Parvati started to hyperventilate. "It's not your fault at all!"

The door to the Room of Requirements swung open once again, revealing Terry Boot with a bruised right eye, Anthony Goldstein with a fat lip, and Michael Corner with a deep gash across his forehead that was dripping blood into his eyebrows. I hurried over to him, whipping out my wand to start cleaning up the mess. Neville followed in right after, shutting the door behind him with a large bang.

"Crabbe and Goyle," Neville said shortly to Seamus' questioning look. "We met those two goons in the hallway on the way here. Took all four of us to take them down."

Seamus and I exchanged surprised glances, not missed by any of the four boys. Neville muttered a quick excuse to leave the room, something about trying to find more people. I think it was because he was embarrassed that it took four people to defeat the two people in our class that were consistently worse than Neville.

"They're learning dark curses from the Carrows, evidently," Terry Boot spit out angrily. "And it took two of us to distract them and two of us to take them down.'

Michael Corner was shaking his head, making it hard for me to clean up his bloody forehead. "Finally Goyle the Gorilla got so tired of having to aim that he picked up the nearest vase and swung it at me." He gestured dramatically toward the deep cut. "Didn't take too long to turn him into a boil covered slug after that."

I cleared my throat, casually asking if any of them had seen Draco Malfoy in the process of all this. The three boys looked darkly at each other, shrugging.

"No one has seen Draco since Seamus went missing a few days ago," Terry answered, sitting politely into another pouf that appeared next to Lavender. He not-so-politely reached onto her lap and pulled out a handful of chocolates, earning a disgusted look from the two other girls. He didn't seem to notice. "I heard Pansy Parkinson talking in class yesterday that he's holed himself up in his Head Boy dorm pouting about something."

"He's always pouting about something," Anthony joined in, jabbing an elbow playfully into Terry's side. "Remember that time when you accidently pelted him in the head with that bowl of mashed potatoes last year?"

Terry snorted in laughter, high fiving Anthony over Michael and my heads. "That was no accident, bro."

"Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm going to be living in a frat house," Lavender commented as she stood up from her pouf and peeked her head into the bathroom. "Oh Merlin, please tell me that is not the bathroom."

I shot an offended look at her. "Hey, I redesigned that bathroom. You should have seen it before."

Lavender shot me a sympathetic look. "Oh honey. That is no way to design a bathroom. Leave it to Parvati and I, we're going to be professional interior designers one day."

The two girls hopped into the bathroom, leaving everyone else to stare after them with excitement. The next minute sounded a little something like this:

"Dude, we get to live with GIRLS."  
>"Not just girls…a couple of the hottest girls in school."<br>"Why didn't you guys think of this plan earlier? We needed a little co-ed going on around here."  
>"What about our stuff…eh, who cares. We have girls now."<br>"Thank Merlin we're going to have a real bathroom."

I glared at Seamus, who shrugged. "What? That was a pretty messed up bathroom. I thought it would have been great considering you're a girl."

"Now I clearly remember why I didn't have friends throughout school," I responded, mostly to myself, as the boys re-entered their conversation on girls. Seamus shot me a slightly offended look before joining in with the others.

A few minutes after I had patched up Michael, who made me promise not to heal it all the way so he could have "a bad-ass Harry Potter scar," the Room of Requirement door opened one more time revealing a red-head carrying someone in his arms. Neville hurried in behind them, shutting the door tight and backing away quickly.

"No one leaves the room tonight," Neville ordered, despite all our groans of protest.

"Man, what are we going to eat?" Terry asked as he glanced around the room. "If my memory serves, this room doesn't just whip up gourmet cheeseburgers or steaks."

Michael reached over and lifted up Lavender's bag of chocolates.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Lavender reprimanded him as she snatched the bag from his outstretched hand. "But really, Neville. What's going on out there?"

I glanced toward the two people who had entered the room with Neville, noting the red headed boy was Ernie MacMillian. The other person…

"Oh Merlin!" Parvati squealed as she had gotten a better look at the second person than me. "Padma! Oh my gosh, Padma! Is she alright?" She rushed toward her twin sister, dropping down to her knees and pulling my best friend's limp body into a tight hug.

"What happened to her?" I asked breathlessly, a bad feeling nestling up in my stomach as I watched Parvati try to awaken her twin with brute force.

Ernie stood up slowly from Padma's side. "I had gotten the message from the DA coins and was making my way toward the Room of Requirement when I heard Amycus screaming at someone. I knew it was a girl by the cries she was letting out." He paused to shake his head. "Anyways, I entered the room and saw Amycus torturing Padma, screaming that she tell him where the members of the secret group were disappearing to. He kept getting angrier when she told him that she didn't know."

He paused once again, getting his heavy breathing under control.

"I stepped up behind him and knocked him in the head with a stunning charm. He fell over, but the damage to Padma was already done. She was on the verge of unconsciousness when Neville walked in the room. Evidently he had heard the screaming as well. The two of us got her up here…slowly, but surely."

We all fell silent, staring at Padma's limp form lying haphazardly on the floor. Parvati was sobbing cross-legged on the ground, holding her sister's hand tightly.

Neville waltzed over to a portrait on the other side of the room, speaking to it in a low voice. The little girl nodded slowly, turned around, and marched down the lane. I wasn't surprised to see it, as Neville always called on Aberforth in a time of need, but the newcomers weren't used to seeing a picture walk backward in their own portrait.

"Just wait a moment," Neville said as he came back around, "Aberforth is going to come up with some supplies and food. Everything is going to be okay."

Michael Corner scoffed at Neville's words. "Everything is going to be okay? That's all you can say? Hogwarts is a terrible place filled with merciless Death Eaters. A couple of my best friends were rounded up and thrown in Azkaban, because of their blood lines. We're hiding out in a tiny, secret room in our own school, afraid that we're going to be tortured or worse. Even Harry Potter ran away from it all! Everything is far from being okay."

He stormed off, throwing his book bag into a corner underneath a newly placed blue hammock that appeared just a moment before. He climbed into it, turning his back on all of us.

"It's been really rough for him," Terry said quietly as he glanced between the members of the group. "Ever since the beginning of the year…it's been tough."

"It's been tough for all of us," Seamus threw in, his tone becoming mocking and sarcastic. "But that doesn't mean we push ourselves away from the friends we have left. If he wants to act like a baby, then let him. But I'm not joining that party."

"No one is joining that party," Neville interjected as he shook the slam Michael placed on him, "I know it's been a rough year, I know we've all made sacrifices. But look…we're all alive. It can't be too long now. Harry Potter has never let us down before. Let's just get some rest and we'll get back in the game tomorrow by looking for more members that are hiding in the castle. We can get through this. Together."


	23. Chapter 23

**Well hello all of my wonderful readers! So good to be back on track. As you probably already know…we are nearing the end of the story! At least the second part of the series… ;) Stay tuned!**

**And since it's coming up on a lot of "book material" I have to put in that JK Rowling is the creator of Harry Potter, not me, and all her characters and plots are of her brilliant mind.**

**Anyways, keep up the awesome reviews. I love all of you…even the sneaky readers out there!  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

Over the next few days a few more DA members collected in the Room of Requirement, including Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Zacharias Smith. To be honest, we were all surprised to see Zacharias Smith, because of his usual pretentious attitude and need to be right all the time.

"Well why can't I have the hammock close to the wall?" he was arguing with Ernie MacMillian for the eighth time that night, refusing to relent from it. "I'm smaller than you, I'm better looking, I have more friends."

Ernie scrunched his face together in angry confusion. "What do any of those things have to do with having the hammock closest to the wall?"

I leaned toward Seamus, who I was sitting next to on a loveseat eating a box of popcorn as we watched the argument unfold once again. "Three Galleons says that Ernie uses a Bat-Bogey Hex on him again." Seamus lifted his hand toward me, gesturing for me to shake it. He didn't even bother taking his eyes off the scene. "Three Galleons says that Ernie just stuns him to get it over with."

"Everyone likes me more; therefore I should get what I want."

I leaned toward Seamus once again, shoving a handful of popcorn in my mouth. "So it is true what they say about redheads getting angry."

Seamus snorted at Ernie's face, as it became steadily more and more pink- clashing with his bright, red hair. "That Zacharias character is kind of the Hufflepuff version of Draco Malfoy. I guess every house has one of them."

I smacked Seamus in the stomach, smirking at his jibe. My smirk fell slowly as I began to think about Draco and all the things I had probably missed the past few weeks. I wondered if he had even thought about me. A huge part of me…and I didn't even know why…but a huge part of me really missed his insults and the arguing.

"HA! You owe me three galleons!" Seamus cried out enthusiastically, pulling me from my thoughts on the blonde haired boy. I focused a few feet in front of me, zoning in on Zacharias lying haphazardly on the floor, Ernie standing over him with a grave expression on his pink face.

A few students that were paying close attention to the fight cheered Ernie on, happy that someone had finally gotten Zacharias to shut up.

"What's going on?" I heard a quiet voice float toward me. I turned my head, surprised to see that Padma had made her way over to the commotion, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She hadn't been out of bed in a few days, choosing instead to stare at the wall and cry.

She hadn't taken the Carrows torturing her too well.

I scooted over on the couch, nearly sitting on Seamus' lap to make room for my best friend. As she sat down, I put a comforting arm around her shoulders. She rested her head onto my own shoulder.

"Ernie and Zacharias have had this on-going battle about who should have the Hufflepuff bunk closest to the wall," I explained quickly as Neville made his way through the cheering crowd. "They've been at it for a couple of hours, but Ernie finally put a stunning charm on Zacharias. Thank Merlin."

Padma's snort of laughter sounded more neutral than anything, but I knew she found the whole situation amusing. She was just having a tough time, but I knew she would be back around.

"What the hell is going on now?" Neville asked in a tired, resigned voice as he glanced down at Zacharias' seemingly lifeless body on the carpet. "I thought we solved this ages ago. Why did you have to curse him, Ernie? We're supposed to be working together."

"I am working together! Just not with him!" Ernie finally exploded, sending a shower of saliva onto Neville's surprised face. Everyone went silent, watching the confrontation with apprehensive curiosity. "He is a complete prat, Neville. Everyone knows that!" He paused, taking a deep breath. "We've been stuck in this damn room for over a week now. I know we need to be patient with Potter, but mine is starting to fade. Quickly."

The room continued to be silent after Ernie's rant, more so out of surprise. No one had ever heard Ernie get mad…ever. I figured it was a Hufflepuff thing. He grumbled off into the corner with the radio before Neville could speak, turning bright pink again once again as he realized what he had just done.

"Well you don't see that every day," Seamus commented offhandedly as he shoved a handful of my popcorn into his house. "I always thought beavers were a little temperamental."

"I do believe the house animal is a badger, not a beaver," Padma retorted, shocking both of us. That was the most she had spoken in a few days.

A smirk grew on my face as I turned to look at her. "So Padma, how much wood does your beaver need for a long weekend away?" I paused, my smile brightening in realization. "I think I just thought of another Oliver Wood joke!"

Padma rolled her eyes before launching herself off the couch, vowing to not speak to us ever again. I outwardly complained, crying after her for forgiveness, but on the inside I was overjoyed. I could have sworn I saw a flash of a smile on her ghostly face as she wandered back toward her hammock.

"HEY! EVERYONE! BIG NEWS!"

I turned my attention toward Ernie, who was evidently out of his pouty stupor. He had jumped to his feet, excitement glinting brightly in his eyes.

"What? What is it?"  
>"Not another SPEW presentation. I thought we got rid of that when Hermione left."<br>"Whatever it is, I'm not volunteering for food duty again."

Ernie turned toward the radio, gesturing silence with one hand as he turned the volume dial on the radio with his other.

"-Ppears to be right, Rodent. Harry Potter has been sighted in Diagon Alley!"

There was a burst of noise with everyone spinning around the room asking each other if they had heard the same thing. A few people, myself included, began shushing the other students in order to hear the reports more clearly. I shoved my way toward the front of the crowd, trying to get as close to the wireless as I possibly could.

"Reports are circulating that large amounts of damage had been done to Gringotts Bank in London when Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger flew a security dragon from the protected vaults underneath the bank-"

"HE STOLE A DRAGON?" Seamus whooped loudly from the back of the room, rewarding himself with a few harsh 'shhhs' from other students who were intently trying to listen.

"I guess the people of Gringotts won't mind that he stole a dragon and nearly demolished the entire bank once he beats You-Know-Poo. Isn't that right, Rapier?"

"That seems to be the gist of it, Rodent-"

The news report was cut off once again, but not by a student this time. A long, wailing scream ripped through the room, tearing at every nerve in my body. It was such a terrible sound, such an awful, gut-wrenching screech that I wanted to drop into a ball on the floor. I noticed a few students were doubled over, their hands clasped tightly over their ears.

Then, just as suddenly as it started…it stopped.

"Who the hell…" Zacharias Smith said slowly, rousing our attention to the boy who had evidently been awake for some time. "Screamed like that. And why."

"Wasn't me!"  
>"I dunno who it was!"<br>"Susan, did you have to scream so loud? That was awful."  
>"I swear, Hannah, it wasn't me this time!"<p>

"Wait. Everyone. I think I know what it was."

I turned my gaze toward Padma, who had risen from her hammock (the heavy blanket still wrapped around her shoulders). Everyone looked at her expectedly and I half anticipated her to mutter a quick 'never mind' and slouch back into bed.

However, she surprised me for the third time that night by clearing her throat. "I think it was a Caterwauling Charm."

Her suggestion was met by a few blank faces, followed by Zacharias Smith saying a rather rude, "Umm…what now?"

Padma's face reddened in embarrassment, but she went on. "A Caterwauling Charm. It sets off a kind of alarm when someone or something passes over the perimeter. I've never heard one myself, but they are supposed to emit a high-pitched screech."

There were a few other Ravenclaws who started to nod their heads in agreement, causing a few Gryffindors to climb on board the suggestion.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Zacharias Smith retorted, scrunching his face into an expression of confusion. "That probably isn't even a real charm-"

"Shut up, Smith, or you'll end up a little worse than what Ernie did," I growled at him, taking out my wand ominously from my pocket. Evidently my threat held a little more fear than Ernie's, for Zacharias closed his mouth tight almost immediately.

"I-I think Ariana wants me to go with her."

With the outbreak of noise and panic, no one had noticed the large picture of the small girl gesturing toward Neville in an inviting manner. As he took a step closer, followed quickly by a shove from Parvati and Lavender, the portrait swung open, revealing the dark passageway that led to the Hogs Head. We had used the passageway many times for food and supplies, but not once had Ariana summoned us.

"Hey, can anyone try to get out a message to the other DA members? Or even Order members while I'm gone. I have a feeling about this one, guys. I really do," Neville said as he flashed a rare smile and gave us a "thumbs up" gesture. "Make sure to let them know that they have to apparate directly into the Hog's Head!"

"Wouldn't it be crazy if Potter set off the Caterwauling charm?" a younger student I'd known as "that one chick" (only because I could never remember her name) was saying excitedly as Neville took a step into the passageway, the portrait shutting tightly behind him.

"Don't be stupid," Zacharias resumed his nitpicking, "it was probably a cat or something. Potter wouldn't be dumb enough to show up here."

"Always the source of positive thinking," I mumbled mostly to myself. I still received a snort from a fourth year Gryffindor, who appeared to marvel my sense of humor more than necessary.

Ernie and Padma started the task of notifying past DA members of the upcoming meeting (though I'm not sure what Neville would have done with all the extra people had the summoning from Ariana been about a shortage of cheese and homemade bread.)

Luckily enough for us, it wasn't.

"Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?" Neville yelled excitedly as he swung the portrait door open, revealing himself along with three other surprises- Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

"HARRY!" a few people screeched, jumping off couches, abandoning chess games and books stolen from the library. An exploding snap pack detonated in the back, coating a third year's back half with sooty playing cards.

"IT'S POTTER! IT'S POTTER!"

"RON!"

"HERMIONE!"

If I hadn't known the three from Harry's scar, Hermione's iconic bushy hair, or Ron's vibrant red hair, I wouldn't have been able to recognize them at all. Whatever journey they had taken place on must have not been an easy one.

Harry and Ron's hair had grown out longer than usual, now looking scraggly. Both had stubble-like beards adorning their chins and jaw line. Hermione looked rather ragged as well. Her clothes were smudged with dirt. All three had patches of water splayed across shirts and pants. Their cheeks were tinged red, as if they had just run a mile.

Of course, reports were that they did break into Gringotts and steal a dragon so maybe that had a little something to do with it.

I kept my distance from the mess of people, not really sure where I should be at this particular moment in time. I mean, I was incredibly happy to see trio (for more selfish reasons that not- I hadn't taken a shower in privacy in over two weeks. And Hannah Abbott snores louder than you would believe), but I was still a member of the Slytherin house, not to mention that I dated their sworn enemy. All in all, I wasn't exactly sure where I stood with the three.

"Okay, okay calm down," Neville laughed as the crowd spread out, giving the four at the front a little more breathing room. I could tell that Neville was over the moon by this point. He had been waiting for this moment all school year.

"Uh, where are we?" Harry asked, a confused expression on his face as he glanced around the room, taking in the surroundings.

"The room of requirement!" Neville said matter-of-factly, spreading his arms toward the inside of the room as if he were giving a tour. "Really outdone itself, hasn't it. I was running from the Carrows one day and needed a place to hide and…well, here it is! It was significantly smaller when I first came in, but it started expanding when more people joined in."

"And the Carrows can't get in?" Harry asked, standing on his toes to peek over the heads of the DA members, as if he were looking to see if they could get in anywhere.

"No," Seamus piped in, shaking his head excitedly. Harry did a double-take as he recognized Seamus for the first time. And I don't blame him. Cuts and bruises adorned Seamus' face that hadn't quite healed yet. One nasty one swelled the left half of his face to the point of near distortion. "As long as one of us stays in here, the door won't open to anyone we don't want it to. It's the perfect hideout. Of course, we had to figure out the loopholes, but Neville got the under control. He really understands this room!"

Neville shuffled his feet, clearly embarrassed by the positive attention. "It was really straightforward really. The portrait leading to the Hogs Head appeared about a day and half after I found the room. It must have sensed that I was hungry. Anyways, Aberforth has been providing us with food when it isn't safe for us to leave the room. Oddly, that's the one thing the food can't do."

"So we've been hiding here about two weeks," Seamus finished off, grinning up at the trio's astonished faces. "It keeps adding more and more hammocks when the number of people grows. It even came up with a pretty nice bathroom once girls started showing up-"

"And wanted to wash up, thank you very much," Lavender interjected, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. It took all my might not to stick my tongue out at her. My version of the bathroom worked just fine.

"What have you been up to thought?" Ernie asked excitedly, evidently eager to hear the story. "We've been paying attention to some rumors." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder toward the wireless. "Did you really break into Gringotts?"

"They did!" Neville answered for the three. "The dragon is true too!"

There was a round of excited applause, followed by whooping and cheering. Ron stepped forward and took a comical bow.

"What were you after?" Seamus asked, clearly wanting to know more.

Almost immediately, Harry started to sway on his feet, his eyes went oddly blank. He turned his back on the DA members, sweat starting to pool at his hairline near his scar. The color drained from the back of his neck and I only assumed it drained from his face as well.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Neville rushed over to help Ron support Harry as he appeared to be on the verge of fainting. "Do you need to sit down or something? I bet you're pretty tired."

As quickly as it happened, the feeling passed and Harry was back to normal, sans the sweat that hadn't gone away yet.

"No," he said to Neville, pushing away from him and looking at Hermione and Ron expectedly. "We need to get going." The other two members of the trio had expressions that they clearly understood.

"What's the plan, Harry?" Seamus asked excitedly. Evidently he didn't get the memo that the "plan" didn't include any of us.

"Plan?" Harry asked, confused as he started to slowly make his way toward the door, followed by Hermione and Ron. He struggled to keep his eyes open, as if he had a terrible migraine. "Well there's something we have to do. We have to leave."

An angry buzz spread around the room as if wasps had entered through the door. The room suddenly went silent. There was no more cheering or clapping. Neville looked heartbrokenly confused.

"What do you mean you have to leave?"

Harry started rubbing his scar. "We haven't come to stay." Ron and Hermione showed their support by nodding slowly. "There is something we came to do."

"Well what is it?"

"I can't tell you."

Neville's brows furrowed in the middle. Even the younger students started to look angry and confused at this point. I decided to remain quiet and neutral. Between Seamus and Neville, I'm sure they would get their way. Harry hadn't quite witnessed the change that took place between the two boys this past year.

"Why can't you tell us?" Neville's jaw hardened into a set position. "It's about You-Know-Who isn't it?"

"Erm…" Harry looked uncomfortable at this point. "Yeah."

"Then we'll help you."

There was a mutter of agreement around the room, save for Zacharias Smith who appeared downright terrified. Parvati and Lavender leapt off the couch, eager for the instructions from the trio.

"You don't understand," Harry said, frustrated, as he tried to scoot a little closer to the door. "We can't tell you. We've got to do it alone."

"Why?"

"Because…" Harry started to look desperate by this point, poor thing. He glanced swiftly around the room, searching frantically for a way out. "Dumbledore left us a mission and we have to finish it. Just the three of us."

"We're Dumbledore's Army," Neville justified to Harry, walking toward him through the crowd of students, "We've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own."

Ron snorted, as if laughing at a joke to himself. "It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate."

"I never said it was, but I don't see why you can't trust us," Neville said quickly, his temper rising at an impossibly fast rate, "but we've all been driven into this room because of the Carrows. We're all in this room because we believe in you."

"Look," Harry began, but he was cut off by the portrait swinging open, banging on a bookshelf that sat directly next to it. A rush of blonde, curly hair popped out of the entrance.

"We got your message!" Luna said happily, grinning down at the students who all cheered. "I thought you three must be here!"

A roar of delight let out behind me as Seamus shoved his way through the crowd, headed toward one thing that poked its head out of the portrait hole…Dean Thomas. He hugged his best friend tightly around the neck, clapping his hands on his upper back.

"Well hello everyone," she continued on after the distraction of Dean and Seamus' greeting subsided. "Wow, it's great to be back."

"Luna!" Harry said in a surprised fashion. His eyebrows got lost in the scraggly mess of hair. "What are you doing here?"

She held up a fake galleon, a radiant smile on her face.

"I sent for her," Neville said with a slight shrug. "I promised her and Ginny that I would contact them if anything else happens. We knew that if you came back it meant there would be a revolution. Overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

I heard Padma huff beside me. She had actually been the one to get into contact with Ginny and Luna.

"Of course that's what it means!" Luna said rather perkily for the situation. "We're going to fight them out of here!"

I felt kind of bad for Harry at this point. I thought his blood pressure was rising too fast for his small, seeker body to handle. "Listen," he said rather shrilly. His voice went high pitched and I couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. "I'm sorry you had the wrong impression, but this isn't what we came back for!"

"So you're just going to leave us in this mess?" Michael Corner piped up, a demanding tone in his voice.

"No!" Ron said indignantly. I could tell he was getting frustrated at this point too. "We're doing something that's in the best interest of everyone. Getting rid of You-Know-Who!"

"Then let us help!" Neville yelled, catching the trio off guard. "Let us be a part of it too!"

There was a shuffling sound behind the four, bouncing off the walls from the open corridor leading to the Hogs Head. Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley, Lee Jordan, and Cho Chang bustled out of the portrait hole.

"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," Fred said with a hand raised to the cheers that resonated through the room, "his bar getting turned into a railroad station and all."

Harry's jaw dropped, a comical sight considering he was still mid-argument with one of his housemates. Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley both smiled brightly at him before making angry eyes at each other. Cho sat next to Michael Corner on a loveseat while Ginny stuck close to Harry and her brother.

"What's the plan, Harry?" George asked as he made his way toward me, swinging his arm around my shoulder. I squeezed his waist for a moment, giving him a one-armed hug. The twins and I used to make our rounds when they attended Hogwarts. They swore I was the only Slytherin they could stand.

"There isn't one," I explained quickly, looking up at him from my perch a few inches below.

"Ah, so we're just going to make this up as we go along." George grinned down at me. "My favorite kind."

"This is insane," Harry rounded on Neville, gesturing toward the crowd of students and ex-students. "You've got to stop this."

"We're still fighting, right?" Dean asked uncertainly. "Because if we are, I definitely am in need of a wand."

"You don't have a wand?" Seamus asked, incredulously before Dean embarked on a story containing goblins, snatchers, and the Malfoy Manor. I only knew of the last part, but I wasn't certain of how he had gotten there in the first place.

Ron turned to Harry suddenly, muttering to him under the noise of the crowd. I turned to Padma, who was still slightly fuming at Neville taking credit for her work. I let her fume for a moment, glad that she was having other emotions apart from sorrow and self-pity. I turned back to George, whose arm was still draped across my shoulders.

"So are you rodent or rapier?"

George's face lit up. "You've been listening to our show!"

I shrugged as Harry turned back toward the crowd, evidently in a new state of mind after speaking with Ron and Hermione. "Only twice. Hey, what happened to your ear anyways? You're getting a little holey!"

"Okay!" Harry announced, immediately grabbing the attention of the room. "There is something we need to find. Something that's been hidden for a long time. Probably Ravenclaw related. Any suggestions?"

"Well, when was it hidden?" Seamus asked.

Harry shuffled on his feet, appearing uncomfortable. "I dunno."

"Well, what does it look like?" Seamus retorted, his eyebrows rising dangerously high.

"I don't know that either."

I shook my head, laugher trying to escape my lips. "You aren't really giving us a whole lot to go off of there, sonny boy."

Harry did a double take, evidently surprised to see me there standing amongst the DA members.

"Well, there is the lost diadem of Ravenclaw," Luna interjected, saving Harry from any response to my being present. "Remember I told you about it, Harry?"

"Uhhh…Luna," Michael said quickly, "One problem with that. It's lost, remember?"

Luna shrugged. Evidently a mass search under the threat of You-Know-Who wasn't something out of her realm of reality.

"When was it lost?" Harry asked, initially intrigued. That train of thought vanished immediately when Cho answered that it had been lost for centuries.

"And none of you have seen what it looks like?" Harry asked, desperately trying to find something that resembled the diadem. All the Ravenclaws shook their heads. I secretly wondered why he wanted to prance around wearing a crown anyways.

"But I'd be more than happy to show you what it looks like," Cho said, smirking slightly at Ginny as she batted her eyelashes. I threw up in my mouth. "There is a replica of it in the Ravenclaw common room."

"I think that Luna would just love to show Harry, actually," Ginny glared at Cho. "Wouldn't you Luna?"

The blonde haired girl clapped her hands together as she stood from her perch on the red head's armrest. "Ooo, yes I would love to."

"How do we get out?" Harry said quickly, pointing the question toward Neville.

"Over here," Neville gestured toward the corner of the room, "But be careful, because the room lets us off somewhere different every time. Keeps us from getting found out, you see."

"No, problem," Harry said, pulling Luna by the wrist behind him, "See you guys in a bit."

And just like that, they vanished through the door.


	24. Chapter 24

**Cliff hanger…I know. Though I'm betting on the fact that most of you have read the book and know exactly what's going to happen next…sort of…so I figure it wasn't too much to ask of you :)**

**Again, continuing disclaimer. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me. **

**Anyways, hope you have been enjoying the last few chapters! Reviews would be wonderful since we're coming to a close. Still loving all my readers regardless!**

**Read and enjoy!**

"This is the most exciting day of my life!" Seamus pumped his fist into the air as soon as Harry and Luna disappeared from the room. "My best friend is back- boy version," he amended quickly, glancing at me with uncertainty. I nodded my approval. "And we get to help save the entire wizarding world. This does not happen every day."

Padma was to the point of hyperventilating. "I'm glad this doesn't happen every day! The stress of it alone is going to kill me…" She trailed off; speaking the words we were all avoiding.

What if we did die? I most certainly was not ready to die, especially at the hands of some massive, gorilla sized Death Eater with bad acne and horrific breath. I got the feeling most of them weren't that hygienic either.

I mean, come on, their leader doesn't even have a nose. How much more sketchy could you get?

Hermione had pushed her way through the crowd, interrupting our silent stupor by drawing out a thick, black wand from the inside of her robes. "We somehow ended up with this," she handed the wand to Dean, who took it eagerly. "It's an extra. You can't go around tonight without a wand."

I snickered. "Unless you hide in an alcove and stick your foot out to trip people." I had an immediate image of a Death Eater in the flowing robes getting tripped up by a student hidden behind a corner, getting tangled into their robes and falling through a window. Or down a flight of stairs.

With me sitting on their back screaming as I used them as a Human Toboggan. That incident seemed centuries ago at this point in time, though Filch certainly didn't let me forget about it. He hobbled away as fast as his stumpy legs could carry him every time he saw me approach a set of stairs.

I really don't know what the fuss was all about. It happened one time!

"Yeah…" Hermione said slowly as she furrowed her brow, staring at me with an odd expression on her face. "Maybe you should just take the wand, Dean."

He didn't hesitate at that point.

"What happens if we do fight tonight?" Seamus asked slowly as Hermione briskly walked away, still throwing uncertain glances at me from over her shoulder as she made her way toward Ron at the other end of the room. "What's the first thing we should do?"

"I think we should blow up that damn stone bridge," I said in a serious tone. Dean and Seamus snickered while Padma looked slightly affronted. But only slightly. She was rarely surprised by what came out of my mouth anymore.

"No really," I continued, despite their doubtful expressions, "We should blow it up. If there are Death Eaters coming to fight, how else are they going to come into the castle? They can't apparate in. They could take a path through the Forbidden Forest, but that would take twice as long."

Seamus seemed to consider it for a moment, while Dean looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "You are obviously off your rocker," he finally said, eyeing the Irish boy with some suspicion, "which is probably the reason you're such good friends with Seamus."

Padma and I let out a peel of laughter as Seamus punched Dean in the upper arm. Joking around, of course.

The portrait hole swung open once again, revealing Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. Fred and George Weasley roared with delight at the sight of their past teammates.

Hermione and Ron rushed over, eager to understand why more and more people were being invited into the Room of Requirement party.

"It's not appropriate. Harry specifically said that we weren't here to start a revolution," Hermione was hissing to Fred as she pulled him away from Angelina Johnson, who started to chuckle at Hermione's antics.

Fred laughed, winking over Hermione's head toward Angelina. He rested an arm around her shoulder, leading her back toward Ron- who was in the middle of a quidditch debate with Alicia. "Listen here, Hermione Granger. If I die tonight, I want to be able to see my Yule Ball date one more time." He winked again toward Angelina, who let out a sheepish grin. "And you're going to be real sorry that you denied me that right."

Hermione shuffled on her feet, unsure of what to say. At this point, we all knew promising life by the next morning was pretty empty. No one knew what was going to happen.

"Now," George began, finally removing his arm from my shoulders, "what was this about blowing up the stone bridge and where can I get in on it?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but was saved from having to respond by a sharp scream toward the portrait hole.

"Merlin, it's a werewolf!" a short, chubby fourth year shrieked as she pointed at a new arrival- a man with long red hair tied back in a ponytail. A dragon tooth necklace adorned his scarred neck. A beautiful woman with white blonde hair was clutching his arm, glaring at the girl as if she had daggers shooting from her eyes.

"What ees these?" she demanded, tugging on Bill's arm as she cocked her head toward the fourth year. "He ees no werewolf, you dumb girl-"

I rushed over, pushing the small girl out of harm's way. Bill's face lit up as he saw me and he bent down to give me a tight hug.

"Fleur, surely you remember Natalie?" Bill asked the woman as he gestured at me. "She was the one who saved my life last spring. Natalie, this is my wife, Fleur."

Fleur swooped down with excitement, planting large kisses on both of my cheeks as she clutched at my shoulders with her talon-like nails. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ron Weasley give me a jealous glare before returning to his conversation with Hermione.

"Eet ees so nice to meet my husband's savior," she said in a rush as she pulled me into a tight squeeze. I patted her back awkwardly, as I didn't know where else to put my hands. "Wizout you, I would not have my wonderful Bill."

I smiled at her sweetly as a few more people climbed through the portrait hole- Professor Lupin from my third year, a couple that could only be the heads of the Weasley household, a large black man with a gold hoop strung through his left ear, and lastly, none other than-

"Oliver?"

As soon as I saw my future brother-in-law enter the Room of Requirement, greeting his old teammates with enthusiasm, the door headed toward the inside of the castle opened, sending Harry and Luna stumbling in.

The students and Order members went immediately silent, taking in the sight of the rugged looking boy that would hopefully save all of our skins.

"Harry, what's happening?" Professor Lupin asked as he made his way down the staircase and onto the main level of the Room of Requirement. He, among a few others, was looking more ragged than the last time I saw him. His robes hung loosely off his thinner frame, gray speckled through his hair. He had obviously been taken through the ringer and back again.

"Voldemort's on his way!" Harry announced breathlessly. "Snape's run for it. How did you know to be here?"

"We sent a quick message to the Order members," Fred explained, "Everyone couldn't miss the fun, Harry. Besides, the DA member notified the Order and it just snowballed from there."

"What first, Harry?" George interjected over the string of mutterings that were spreading around the room. "What's going on?"

"They're evacuating the younger kids first," he explained quickly, making his way toward the door. "We're all meeting in the Great Hall to get organized." He paused, surveying the room for a moment. "We're fighting."

There was an uproar of cheers and whoops that resonated from everybody in the room, myself included. I couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement of an upcoming battle. I mean really, how often do we get to participate in a fully-fledged wizard war?

"Come on, Padma," Dean called out as he took a hold of my best friend's hand. I couldn't help but smile as she blushed at his light touch. We followed the crowd as if we were fish swimming with the current of a river. Everyone excitedly bustled from the room out into the corridor, where other students were surprised to see the reappearance of their friends.

Some cheered and hugged, whereas other cried. They had evidently thought the Carrows had killed them off. At least that's what a second year girl said to her Hufflepuff friend.

"Where's Ron? Where's Hermione?" I heard a shout come from the open door that led to the common room of the Room of Requirements. A loud, but slightly muffled voice called out from over the crowds, but I couldn't understand a word they said.

As we were herded into the Great Hall, I glanced up, surprised to see such a beautifully clear night sky shining down from the Enchanted ceiling. Had we not been under threat of death, it would have been a nice night to cause some serious (yet harmless) mischief with a few of my best friends.

Students lined the house tables, dressed in all sorts of pajamas, dressing gowns, and disheveled robes. All eyes were fixed on Professor McGonagall, who stood in front of the staff table, giving orders.

"-Evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges in orderly fashion to the evacuation point."

Many students, both younger and older, looked downright terrified. Tears streamed down faces of girls, boys were visibly shaking. Others appeared as if they had seen a ghost (and not a normal one at that.)

As Harry skirted around the back of the Hall, clearly trying to stay out of the limelight, Ernie MacMillian stood on the table next to me. "And what if we want to stay and fight?"

It's as if fate worked its own magic right then and there. As Ernie called out his question, a sixth year Slytherin boy shifted just enough to give another boy enough room to glance lazily toward the questioner….his eyes slowly landing on me.

My heart seemed to stop as Draco Malfoy's gray eyes bore into mine for the first time in weeks. He seemed unsure of what he was seeing and even did a few double takes to make sure I wasn't in his imagination.

A small smile played on his lips as he started to push his way through the crowd toward me. It was as if my feet were glued to the ground, more so because my legs were so numb with emotions that I wouldn't have been able to control them if I even tried.

"-for very long. Therefore, I must ask you to move quickly and calmly and do as your prefects-" Professor McGonagall's words were drowned out by a set of another's…someone who I could have gone ten lifetimes without hearing his voice. The sound of it even made Draco stop in his tracks, glancing around the Hall in a terrified fashion.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." A few screams erupted from around the Hall. Padma clawed at my waist, forcing me to wrap my arms around her shoulders. Draco shot us an odd expression, obviously trying to cover up his initial fear. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts, I do not want to spill magical blood."

I snorted loudly at this point, a few people sending me highly offended looks. I shrugged my shoulders. "What?" I asked with an unintentional smile on my face. "If he had great respect for the teachers, he wouldn't be putting on this battle in the damn school. He's such a flake."

I felt Padma roll her head over my shoulder, shaking it in disbelief. "I don't think that you should be nit-picking You-Know-Who's speeches. I don't think you could talk yourself out of that one if you got captured by him."

"Challenge accepted," I retorted, earning myself a well-deserved punch in the stomach.

"Give me Harry Potter," the voice resonated through the Hall, "And they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave your school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you shall be rewarded. You have until midnight."

The Hall went silent once again as heads turned toward Harry. His face flushed slightly as he opened his mouth to speak. I spun my head to look at Draco, who was no longer looking at Harry- but at me. He started to make his way toward the crowd once again, but was interrupted for the second time in five minutes.

"But he's there!" Pansy Parkinson screeched, jumping onto the Slytherin table to point at Harry. "Someone grab him!"

Almost immediately, I disentangled myself from Padma, jumping in front of Harry with the intention of fighting off Pansy with every fiber of my being. I wasn't the only one who came to Harry's aid though.

Neville, Seamus, Ginny, Padma and Luna all came to Harry's side instantaneously, followed by the rest of the DA members (Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Ernie MacMillian, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil), followed by the rest of the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses.

"What are we standing here for?" I heard a third year Gryffindor hiss to a friend standing next to her, who shrugged her shoulders and responded that she only followed the crowd. I couldn't help but let out a peel of laughter.

Which was quickly squashed by the surprised, and disgusted, expression on Draco's face.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," Professor McGonagall said shortly, pointing her finger toward the door, "You can be the first to go. Slytherins, please follow Mr. Filch from the Hall."

Draco shot me a disgruntled look before following Pansy out of the Hall. From the corner of my eye I saw Pansy try to wind her arm around his waist, but he threw her arms off immediately.

"Ravenclaws, follow suit."

The younger students looked at each other with uncertainty, not sure whether they should stay or not. As the table cleared, we could see a few older students seated on the wooden bench, looking scared yet confident. Most of us knew that we were there for a purpose. At least I wasn't going to leave on the brink of a war.

That would just be stupid.

As the Hufflepuff table cleared, even more older students decided to stay. Our troops for the battle were looking better and better by the minute. When the last table was dismissed from the hall, the Gryffindor one, Professor McGonagall actually had to shoo some students into the underage crowd.

"Absolutely not, Peakes. You too, Creevy."

Harry hurried over to the Gryffindor table, passing us by to whisper in a worried voice at the eldest redheaded man, probably the father of the family. He furrowed his brows, glancing back up at Harry in concern, but was cut off from having to respond by the black man with the golden hoop standing in front of the crowd.

"We've only got a half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast. A battle plan has been arranged between the professors of Hogwarts and members of the Order. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall will take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Astronomy. They will have an excellent view for spellwork." He paused and turned, gesturing toward Professor Lupin and the Weasley father. "Remus, Arthur, and I will take troops to the grounds. We'll need someone to organize defense of the entrances or passageways into the school."

"Sounds like a job for us!" Fred called out from the back of the crowd, indicating his twin next to him. The man at the front nodded his approval.

"All right, leaders up here and we'll begin dividing!"

I squeezed Padma's upper arm, gesturing for her to follow me toward the back of the Hall, where a small crowd was gathered around Fred and George Weasley. I pushed through them, my hands on my hips as I stared at them with high intensity.

"Methinks we have an idea to our little entrance problem," Fred said with a grin on his face. "What's your little noggin thinking, young grasshopper?"

I took a deep breath and smiled. "I want to blow up the stone bridge."

Fred and George were silent for a moment before they let out a whoop of laughter.

"You are definitely…"  
>"…a crazy one…"<br>"…but how are you going to…"  
>"Blow up the stone bridge?" they finished together.<p>

I shook my head. "It's really creepy when you do that. Anyways, I have the perfect solution." I reached through the crowd, grabbing onto Seamus' arm as he passed by me with a group of Arthur Weasley's that were going to be positioned somewhere on the grounds. He sent me a disgruntled glare as he grabbed onto Dean's arm, pulling him through the crowd as well.

I gestured toward Seamus as Fred and George furrowed their brows in confusion.

"I don't get it," George finally said, glancing toward his twin. "What does Seamus have anything to do with it?"

I stared at them with a dumbfounded expression. "Seamus can get anything to blow up. He can blow something up with common spells that aren't meant to blow something up. Once, he made his Cure to Coughing potion explode."

Seamus huffed with indignation. "That was only the one time!"

I waved away his retorts. "It was actually four times. Anyways, between Seamus and myself…we have the bridge under control."

Fred and George looked at each other, smirks growing on their faces.

"Fine…you can have the bridge," George said. I high-fived Seamus, who looked one hundred times more excited than he did two minutes ago, "But on one condition…"

As George whispered his condition into my ear, someone barreled into me full-forced from the back, causing me to ram my face into George's chest.

"Hey!" I called out, un-sticking my face from his chest to get a good look as my assailant. "That's illegal in twenty-two countries, you know! I could have your career, sir!"

As the person glanced over his shoulder in fear, I saw that it wasn't an order member…or even a grown up at all. It was a student. Zacharias Smith to be exact. His face was pale, arms and legs were shaking heavily. He gestured a silent plea for me to not say anything about seeing him as he whipped out of the Great Hall and out of sight.


	25. Chapter 25

**We're coming up on all the good stuff, so make sure to stay tuned in until the final chapter! I have the third (and final) installment all outlined and will begin working on it as soon as this part of the series is over! Hope you have all been enjoying it so far as I have loved every minute of writing it!**

**Anyways, you know the drill. I love reviews!  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

Seamus and I rushed down the hall, followed closely by Padma and Dean, who were more so tolerating our plan to blow up the stone bridge. And tolerating is still slightly exaggerating.

"I think this is a really bad idea," Padma said for the fifth time in five minutes as Seamus picked the lock to Filch's office. I started to load my pockets with ingredients that were confiscated that would surely explode if mixed together. At least…we hoped so. "We're going to be outside…exposed...with hundreds of Death Eaters in spell range. We could be killed-"

"Yes," I interrupted her, "It's all very exciting isn't it?" I paused, turning to put my hand on my best friend's shoulder. "Padma, if you don't want to be a part of this. You don't have to be. Seamus and I will be fine on our own if you want to join the groups in the towers. I promise I won't call you a chicken…too often."

She hesitated for a moment, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Oh, give me the damn ingredients." She stuck her tongue out at me as she started to stuff her own pockets full with fireworks that had been confiscated by Filch long ago.

It was actually Dean's brilliant idea to search Filch's office for things to make the bridge explode. "I mean, think about it," he said as he led the way down the hall, "I'm sure there were more people before Fred and George Weasley, but with those two alone…Filch probably has an arsenal down in the dungeons."

Seamus and I looked at each other in silent agreement. Dean was a genius. We would have never thought of that. Seamus clapped him on the shoulder as we entered the office. Dean decided to keep watch from the outside, though we all seriously doubted anyone would give us a detention for breaking into Filch's office and stealing explosives to blow up the stone bridge.

On second thought, we would probably be expelled. No matter the fact that there was a major battle about to take place.

That was how we had gotten into Filch's office at least.

I looked at Padma, a pleased smirk on my face as she continued to stuff her pockets full of explosives. I couldn't have been more proud of her at that moment in time. The ceiling above us shook for a moment before settling back into place.

"On second thought," Padma said after we had paused to stare at the ceiling for a second, "Maybe it's a good thing we'll be outside. A thousand year old castle cannot possibly withstand a whole battle."

With that last thought, we shimmied as quickly as we could out of the office and back into the hallway, pounding up the nearest staircase to navigate our way toward the large front doors.

"This is going to be awesome," Seamus said as he pumped his fist into the air, "I've always wanted to intentionally blow up a part of the castle." I laughed as we skidded around a corner, though it wasn't as unoccupied as we thought it was going to be.

I ran headlong into a large something with a soft belly. I bounced off the thing and onto the floor, landing with a loud 'humph' onto my backside. A few explosives fell from my pocket and scattered across the stone floor. I glanced upward, glaring at the thing that had stopped my flow of movement.

Only to find myself staring straight into the eyes of Vincent Crabbe.

"Oh great," I said as I lifted myself up from the ground, dusting off my backside. "Couldn't you find another hallway to haunt?" I started to pick up the explosives, stuffing them back into my already overflowing pockets.

"Draco's been looking for you."

I dropped the last explosive onto the ground, looking up at him with confusion. "You know how to talk? And who's been looking for me?"

Crabbe turned around, evidently stupid enough to not know how to answer the question. But standing behind him, looking uncharacteristically frantic, was Draco Malfoy.

My heart began to beat fast, my palms were sweaty. I immediately began to wonder what state my hair was in, but then internally chastised myself for wondering such a silly thing when we were on the brink of a war. Padma, Dean, and Seamus casually continued to walk down the hall, pretending to be caught up in their own conversation, but were really listening to see what was going on.

"Natalie," he said shortly, taking a step toward me. He stopped, hiking up a sneer onto his face. I sent him a look that clearly said 'really' before he dropped the sneer and took another step toward me. "Where the hell were you? Not that I was worried sick or anything…but I was curious."

I snorted, stepping forward to poke him in the chest. His smell filled my nostrils, making me realize how much I had really missed him the past few weeks. My heart began to flutter once again. "You missed me," I said with a soft smile on my face. He shook his head quickly, trying to back away, but I grabbed onto the front of his jacket. "You missed me and you were worried. Admit it."

He shook his head quickly, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see if Crabbe and Goyle were watching…they weren't.

I furrowed my brow, letting go of his jacket. "How did you get back in anyways? I thought all the Slytherins were evacuated."

He smirked, running his hands over my waist, hooking his fingers through my belt loops. It was as if the past couple weeks never happened…that we had always seen each other. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

I shoved his chest, my nose wrinkled in disgust. "You're so ridiculous. But really, how did you get back in."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I never left. When they started to shove us through the Room of Requirement door, I peeled off with Crabbe and Goyle claiming Head Boy business. No one questioned me after that."

"Always using your power for good and not evil," I said sarcastically as I crossed my arms over my chest. Which was actually a challenge considering his arms were still wrapped around my waist. There was a sharp noise from down the hall, as Padma cleared her throat. "Oh, I forgot, we're about to blow up the bridge. I have to get going, sorry!" I wriggled out of his grasp and started to make my way down the hall, until he grabbed my upper arm and swung me back around. I stumbled, another set of explosives falling out of my pocket.

"You said you're going to do what?" he said with a voice filled with disbelief.

"Oh, just going to blow up the bridge. Trying to keep the Death Eaters out and all."

He shook his head slowly, still staring at me with incredulity. "Nothing that comes out of your mouth should surprise me anymore."

"I don't know why you let it," I said with a large grin. "But really, I have to get going. You should find some cover to, by the way. I don't think the Order members would be too happy knowing you're still in the castle."

He made a noise that told me an argument was on its way, so I disentangled myself once again and made my way down the hallway.

"Wait!" I heard him call after me. I stopped, sighed, and turned around.

"You know, we're really on a time crunch here. Why don't you go find Harry Potter to bother? I'm sure he has much more time to spare than we do."

He took a step toward me, nervousness took over his face. "I really…wanted to…what I'm trying to say is that I-"

I waved my hands in the air for a moment before jamming two fingers into my ears. He sent me an odd look before I started to explain. "Don't say anything to me that you wouldn't say under normal circumstances. You'll just ruin everything!"

Despite the fact that my curiosity was raging through my body, I spun on my heels and joined the other three who were waiting for me down the hallway.

"That wasn't awkward at all," Seamus commented as we continued our trek toward the front doors, quickening our pace when the ceiling began to shake again. We reached the doors in record time, flinging them open to reveal a hillside full of Death Eaters. My jaw dropped as we stopped at the threshold of the door, unsure if our idea was still a good one.

Padma turned and whacked me on the shoulder.

"OW!" I complained, rubbing the now sore spot. "What was that for?"

She gestured toward the crowd, who were all jeering at us from the distance. "See what your bright ideas get us into? I swear to Merlin if we live through tonight, I'm going to kill you in the morning!"

I scoffed at her. "You would kill your best friend after a successful night of battling a horde of Death Eaters and their crazed leader, Voldywart?" After reading the expression on her face, I concluded, "Okay, maybe you would."

I was the first to take a step over the threshold and, when the Death Eaters didn't move any closer, I took a few steps onto the front lawn. "See, guys. They can't get any closer. Let's just go take care of business-"

As if on cue, there was a shout seven stories up. "OI! Are you going to sit there and stare at it or are you going to man up and make your way over there?"

I glanced up in time to see a redheaded figure bolt over the side of the castle. I glared up at the empty spot, gesturing rudely upward. A few of the female Death Eaters looked highly affronted, making noises that clearly said they disapproved.

I marched over to the bridge, followed closely by Dean, Seamus, and Padma. The Death Eaters could no longer see us at this point, so we figured we didn't need to make any special precautions to take cover. Shakily, I planted the first explosive in a small nook between the stone and wooden fence. Dean and Padma passed by us quickly, claiming they were going to start working on the other end of the bridge.

"Say, Natalie," Seamus said slowly as he took out his own explosive and put it on the floor of the bridge. "If we both live through this, I have a proposition for you."

"What's that?" I asked curiously, climbing onto the side of the bridge to place an explosive onto the bridge. I made sure not to look down into the valley below as I climbed back down.

Seamus cleared his throat, obviously nervous. "If we live through this…I propose that we both move away together. Start somewhere new. Away from all the drama and wars going on here."

I thought for a moment, quietly placing another explosive between the wall and the wooden handrail. Seamus was holding his breath, waiting for an answer. "Alright, you have a deal. If we live through this, we'll move away."

Just as I finished the sentence, I caught a glimpse of Dean and Padma running toward us, their feet clapping heavily against the stone. Padma was gesturing for us to run as Dean was haphazardly dropping explosives as he went.

"I think we have a problem," I said slowly as Seamus looked up toward the noise. I glanced behind them, seeing a mass of Death Eaters running over the bridge. "Oh Merlin," I shouted as I grabbed Seamus' wrist and pulled him toward the castle.

"They got in! They got in!" Padma shouted as she raced by me, determined to make it over the bridge before it blew up. She seemed to have forgotten that we had the control. As she hit the end of the bridge, she threw herself over the small wooden fence, hovering on the hill that sloped and eventually dropped off into the valley.

Dean took cover after her, followed by Seamus and then myself.

"Natalie," Seamus shouted over the noise, gesturing toward my wand, "Blow up the explosives!"

"ME?" I shouted back, gesturing toward his wand, "there wasn't anything in my plans about people actually being on the bridge! You do it!"

Dean took out his borrowed wand, pointing at the bridge. "I'll do it!" he shouted. "Take cover!"

I immediately ducked, knocking heads with Padma as Dean muttered the spell to detonate the explosives. When nothing happened, I glanced up to see Dean shaking the wand.

"Uh…what happened?" I asked as I watched the Death Eaters inching closer to the front lawn.

Dean shrugged. "I don't know! I said the spell, the jet of light came out, but nothing happened. I don't know if I said it wrong-"

One Death Eater rocketed out of the bridge, spinning around with his wand raised toward us. Seamus leapt up, wand pointed as he yelled "_stupefy!"_

But, instead of hitting the Death Eater, Seamus missed and accidently hit the closest explosive instead. As the first one went off, creating a domino effect of explosions, we were thrown backward onto the front lawn. The ends of Padma's pants were smoking and soot covered all of our faces.

There were screams of pain and fear as the bridge crumbled into the valley below. Cheers showered us from above as students, staff, and order members watched the explosion from the top of the castle. As the smoke and dust cleared, I saw that nothing was left of the stone bridge.

I stood from my kneeled position on the ground, grass stains littering my jeans as I clapped Seamus on the shoulder. "Evidently all we needed was an old-fashioned Seamus spell!"

Seamus threw me a sour look as we laughed and cheered, high-fiving and hugging each other for a job well done.

"_STUPEFY!"  
>"CRUCIO!"<br>"EXPELLIARMUS!"  
>"AVADA KEDAVRA!"<em>

The celebrating was short lived as a shower of spells and curses rained down on us from the Death Eaters that had made it across the bridge before its utter demise. I ducked my head, avoiding the streams of light at all costs as I grabbed Padma's hand and ran.

"ALL GENDERS FEND FOR THEMSELVES!" I threw over my shoulder as we slipped and slid up the wet, grassy hill to the front doors as fast as we could. We skidded into the Entrance Hall, stopping short at the chaos that sat in front of us.

Spells and curses jetted across the Hall haphazardly before hitting unsuspecting victims, sending them crumbling to the floor or flying a few feet from where they once stood. The stone walls were cracked, some large pieces were ominously wobbling as they walls and ceiling continued to shake with the presence of so much magic.

Rubble scattered the stone floor, creating a danger to anyone who wanted to run at full speed. In the thirty seconds I had been standing there, two people had already hit a loose stone, skidding down and smashing into the floor with nasty cracks.

One Death Eater that had done it had slammed is head into the floor and now wasn't moving.

"We need to go up a few floors!" I yelled to Padma over the noise. As Dean and Seamus ran toward us, I gestured to the Grand Staircase, wanting to save my voice for the rest of the night. "How the hell are we going to get all the way over there?"

Dean and Seamus shoved past us, joining the fight as they stuck close to the stone wall that wrapped around the Hall. "Every gender fend for themselves!" he yelled over his shoulder, smirking to himself. I huffed out of indignation.

Grabbing Padma's wrist, I pulled her farther into the Great Hall, where a few Death Eaters had turned their attention towards us- the newcomers.

"_Tarantellegra!" _I shouted, pointing my wand at the nearest Death Eater. He broke out into a pretty impressive jig. His face reddened with anger as he kept trying to cast other curses, but missed wildly because of the erratic leg movement.

Padma chastised me for a moment before pulling me toward the stairs, taking full advantage of the Death Eaters turning toward their fellow member and trying to get his feet to stop doing polka moves. "You do realize that we're in the middle of a war, right?" she yelled over the noise as she pulled me up the stairs. We ducked low under the banister, using it to shield us from any curses or jinxes that got shot up our way. "Can't you think of anything better than the Dancing Leg Jinx?"

"OI!" we heard a shout that sounded eerily like Seamus. We whipped our heads toward the noise, running off the Grand Staircase at the third floor when we saw Dean and Seamus gesturing toward us with wild hands.

"We thought you were goners for good!" Seamus yelled over a near explosion, coating the hall where we had been a moment ago in large stones from the wall and dust.

I shoved him as we ran. "Good thing to know chivalry isn't dead!" I snapped back as I followed Dean down another large hallway, as the one we were in was blocked off by a cave in from the ceiling above.

There were loud noises of dueling as we continued down the hallway. We took out our wands in time to see two red headed men fighting the Minister of Magic. Down the other end of the hall, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley had just arrived- looking ragged, tired, and overheated.

"Oh Merlin, no," I said suddenly, trying to back out of the hallway, but was met with Seamus blocking the way. "We can't be in the same place as Harry Potter! He's bad luck to be around you know!" I paused, pointing out one of the redheaded men. "Hey, that's Fred."

Seamus snorted as he pushed past me, lunging forward to help the two men take down the Minister of Magic and fellow Death Eater when they both fell at the redhead's feet.

"Man," Seamus said in disappointment, "I wanted to be able to tell Fergus that I took down the Minister of Magic. See if he tried to one-up me on that one!" He kicked a loose rock, which hit the stone wall with quite a high velocity. Instantaneously, the air exploded sending all of us backward. I cracked my head against the floor.

Rubbing my head and seeing stars in front of my eyes, I called out to the rest of our group to make sure they were okay. Seamus and Dean were haphazardly tossed a few feet from us, whereas Padma was, incidentally, lying across my legs.

"I told you!" I shouted to Seamus as he made his way through the sea of loose rubble to help us off the ground. "We should stay away from Potter. Actually, I think I'm going to stay away from you too. Everything explodes when you're around-"

There was a scream of agony that ripped through my insides, a scream that couldn't have possibly been caused by a spell or curse. As I turned my attention toward the middle of the corridor, where Hermione was struggling to get to her feet and Harry was swaying with unbalance, blood dripping from his temple; Ron Weasley and the other redheaded man (who I assumed was his brother) were kneeled over a body…a dead body.

I shoved past Seamus to get a closer look, keeping my distance from the family that was obviously mourning.

"No, no, no!" someone shouted. "No, Fred, no!" The other redheaded man was shaking Fred, while Ron kneeled at his head, silent tears stream down his disbelieving face.

Fred's eyes were open, but unseeing- staring blankly at the ceiling. The ghost of his last laugh was etched across his face.


	26. Chapter 26

**I know, right? But he had to die…he did in the books…which still breaks my heart. Anyways, hope you are all enjoying the homestretch of the story. Nothing new to report on my end.**

**Reviews are always welcome and are very appreciated! So make sure to leave one before you go!  
>As always, read and enjoy!<strong>

The castle continued to shake as I stared at Fred's dead body on the floor before me. The battle didn't stop, though it should have. This was the first fallen friend that I had lost in the battle, the first fallen friend that I had lost ever. I took a step back, colliding into Padma's shoulder.

"Honey, are you okay?" Padma asked in a quiet voice as she placed a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, taking another step backward.

"I have to go," I said quickly, turning from the scene before me right as the other redheaded brother, Percy I think Harry said, threw himself over Fred's chest, refusing to let go, "I have to get out of here." I pushed past Dean and Seamus, who were too surprised at my reaction to stop me.

From there, I ran. I ran as fast as I could out of the corridor, down the Great Staircase, and through the Main Entrance Hall, where the battle had continued to rage on. I took cover in alcoves, behind statues, ducking onto the floor to avoid jets of light. I didn't want to be there anymore. I didn't want to be a part of it at all.

For some reason, I had it etched in my mind that only the Death Eaters would suffer losses and, if the Order did suffer losses, it wouldn't pertain to me. But there, happening in front of me only a short few minutes ago, I witnessed the death of one of my great friends. I needed to get out.

Pushing into the courtyard, I saw more and more Death Eaters continue to pour in through a hole blasted into the wall. Order members were becoming overwhelmed- some battling two or three Death Eaters at one time.

"Natalie!"

I turned on my heel, relieved to see that one thing had survived the attack thus far- Draco Malfoy. I threw my arms around him, sobbing loudly into his shoulder as he pulled me behind a giant stone that had fallen from the high stone wall. It created a safe alcove for us. With my back propped up against the stone, Draco kneeled in front of me- his front facing the courtyard.

As I lifted my head, looking into his eyes, I said the first thing that popped into my head. "Good Merlin, Malfoy, what the hell happened to you?"

His robes were singed; dried sweat clung to his face. Soot covered his face, hair, and hands. He shook his head, using his thumbs to quickly wipe the tears from my cheeks. "Never mind that, what happened to you? Why are you…uh oh. We have to move."

My eyes widened at the look of fearful shock on his face. "What's happening?"

Draco jumped up, drawing out his wand before leaping over the stone that had been our protector from curses and jinxes. As I leapt up after him and spun around, I was able to survey the courtyard. Almost the entire thing had been demolished. Stones hung haphazardly from the walls. Pillars scattered the ground, making it hard to navigate at high speed.

Oh, and there was an army of giant spiders crawling through the hole in the wall. Guess I should have mentioned that first.

"What the hell," Draco growled as I came to a stunned halt next to him after leaping over the protective stone myself.

My eyes fastened to the horror in front of us as I leaned over and informed Draco that he was never picking our hiding spots. Ever again.

"Oh like this is my fault," he grumbled sarcastically as one of the gigantic beasts let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a scream and a bellow. The force of the spiders' screams together shook the stone ground, scaring me to pieces and causing me to step back. I tripped, falling backward over one of those stones that had been scattered from the wall crumbling.

Draco let out a stream of colorful profanities as he leapt to the side, nearly avoiding being shish-kabobed by one of the spider's pinchers.

Before I could regain my feet, or even blink, a black and green something launched itself at me. If I hadn't already been on the ground, the impact of my head hitting the stone would probably have knocked me unconscious. As it was, I was only dazed, but that was enough to prevent me from blocking the spider's next attack, which caught me on the side of the head. My vision erupted into little black and red polka dots. The next thing I knew, the pressure on my chest was gone and I was jerked upright, where I found myself staring directly at Draco's left shoulder.

"Um," I began dizzily as more screaming (from Order members and Death Eaters alike) and bellowing (from the angry spiders) erupted around me, "Would you mind explaining why we're being attacked by giant spiders? And what DO they put in the _water _in the Forbidden Forest?"

Because, we couldn't have been attacked by normal, bite sized killer spiders. No, that wouldn't have been fun at all. We had to get the Rambo wannabes, the ones that were six feet tall and appeared as if they had found a bottle or two of steroids in the back room and had just gone to town.

And not only that, but they brought enough reinforcements to cover a small country. All under control of the King Spider that looked to be as big as a house.

I dragged an exhausted hand over my sweaty face. "It is way, WAY too late in the night for this sh-"

"Duck and cover!"

A hand in my hair and a knee in my back were enough to get me flat on my stomach, whether I wanted to listen to the disembodied voice or not.

"Draco, if you don't remove your bony knee from my- wahhhh!"

With a piercing shriek that would have surely shattered the windows had the courtyard possessed any, Draco's weight was thrown off me. Gasping for breath, I rolled over onto my back and watched with fascinated horror as a spider that appeared to be six feet tall from where I saw sitting summarily begin to pummel Draco.

And I, being the brilliant prodigy that I am, sat on my butt and gawked.

A dark shadow, elongated by the pale moon hovering above the courtyard stretched slowly over my face and torso. I tore my eyes from the battle between Draco and his spider to the personal dilemma in front of me.

"Oh, hell."

The spider roared, three different octaves of fury erupting from his sharp-toothed mouth. Under a lovely drizzle of spider slobber I took a moment to consider my options:  
>1. Continue to sit on my butt and gawk.<br>2. Call for Draco's help, possibly making my little spider pal even angrier.  
>3. Run like hell.<p>

I bet you can guess which option I chose.

Faster than I thought possible, I was on my feet and making a mad dash toward the stairwell, making a mental note to come back later and help Draco. And faster than I could blink, I was on my back (again) with two-hundred pounds of pissed-off spider straddling my stomach.

I grabbed one of the spider's hairy legs, locking it to my chest, and bucked my hips, grabbing a little higher onto his leg and rolling him onto his back. Nice a change as it was, I wasn't exactly jumping for joy in this new position, stuck between the legs of a foul-smelling monster. I wedged my knee into his gut while I took out my wand, yelling a quick _"stupefy!" _

"Spider one, out of commission," I said mostly to myself as I stood victoriously over the unmoving spider. I whirled around to search out Draco, but instead came face-to-face with a row of jagged black pinchers and a wave of rank breath worse than Cormac McLaggen's. My eyes actually crossed.

Considering the problem spider two presented, seeing as how it had at least a foot on its brethren, I decided that, if I wanted to avoid being torn to shreds and having my entrails devoured, bargaining would be my best bet. And of course, I had forgotten in that moment how bad I was at it.

"Okay, so I know that ingesting me sounds like a pretty good idea right about now," I began, inching slowly backwards as the spider took heavy, determined footsteps toward me, "but I'd like to mention that we witches? Yeah, we don't taste like chicken. Actually, I'm sure I taste quite sour- worse than all the others. And I'd probably give you, like, heartburn or indigestion and all sorts of other nasty things that I'm sure you don't want. So as you can see-" My heart dropped to my stomach as my back connected with cool, immovable stone, "um, eating me would be a REALLY bad idea. Thanks for considering me for the position. I'm flattered, really."

I swear to Merlin, a slow, malicious grin spread across this spider's face.

I ducked in the nick of time and the spider's pinchers, instead of piercing my head, met the wall with a sickening crack. It roared in agony, but instead of my previous attacker, the pain only seemed to make it angrier. It started toward me with a malevolent promise in its black eyes. In the next instant, it was gone, rammed aside by Seamus and Dean. Then, my rescuers were on the ground whimpering and rubbing their shoulders. I rolled my eyes.

Men.

I glanced around and was surprised to see that Padma had joined the scuffle and was currently sitting on a Death Eater's back, evidently having pushed him down the nearest staircase and she toppling down with him.

The floor was no longer strewn with stone and rubble, but the immobile bodies of spiders. In the opposite corner, Malfoy was finishing off what looked to be the last of our attackers. He didn't even have a scratch on him. My respect for him went up a couple notches.

"I don't know much the particular part of the forest where these things came from," I said, stomping over to stand next to Seamus and Dean. "But I don't think that was normal."

"You wouldn't know normal if it jumped up and bit you in the-" Seamus grumbled.

"Do you like it when I hurt you? Is that why you're tempting me?"

Draco trotted over, taking full advantage of the lull in Death Eater activity. "Natalie, can I talk to you a moment?" He pulled me aside, not even bothering to give me a chance to answer. "Natalie, this is getting crazy," he mumbled quickly and quietly, "if we leave now, we could still make it out. I swear to you that I would-"

"I can't leave my friends like this!" I cut him off, gesturing toward the three people that have helped me out of every difficult situation that night. "I can't just up and leave. That's-"

"Crabbe is dead," Malfoy snapped, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Crabbe is dead thanks to this damn battle now what do you have to say to that?"

I glanced behind him toward the back wall, where something had caught my eye. "Giants."

Draco rolled his eyes as he hitched a sneer onto his pale face. "What does that even mean, Garcia?"

I grabbed his upper arm, forcing him to whip around as I pointed toward the back wall. "No, Giants."

Just as Draco shifted his gaze toward the one Giant I had pointed at, three more appeared, their heads just gracing the top of the stone wall. They grabbed their clubs, smashing into the wall with great force. The first managed to break through the stone wall as another horde of Death Eaters poured into the newly made hole.

"Oh, hell no."

Just like that, I was sprinting toward the other end of the courtyard, taking the steps two at a time, silently hoping the others were following me. Luckily for me, they were.

Unluckily for me, we met a group of Death Eaters guarding the top of the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall.

"I'll take this one," Dean yelled as he leapt in front of us, taking on the first Death Eater who shot a curse at us. I recognized it as Dolohov, a man who frequented our home when I still lived with my father.

"And I this one!" Padma shouted as she broke off to send a jinx toward a man named Travers.

"ARGH!"

Peeves had just swooped by and dropped a large wad of green tubers over our heads. I jumped out of the way in time to avoid the slimy, green plant, but others weren't so lucky. And if my eyes weren't deceiving me, I could have sworn a fistful of it dropped on something invisible.

"Someone is invisible there!" another masked Death Eater shouted, distracting the others just enough for Dean to stun Dolohov and turn his attention toward Travers to help Padma. The two of them together took down the remaining dueling Death Eater and they high-fived once Travers hit the floor, unconscious.

"I'm Draco Malfoy. I'm Draco," Malfoy was pleading with one of the guarding Death Eaters at the top of the stairs. He had bounded up the steps, trying out his own forms of bargaining to try and get us into the castle. "I'm one of you, I swear!"

Out of nowhere, the guarding Death Eater fell to the ground, immobile. Draco glanced around, utterly bemused as to what happened…until something (or someone) swung out and punched him in the mouth. He fell backward onto the unmoving Death Eater, clutching his bleeding jaw in confusion.

"That's the second time we saved your life you two-faced bastard!"

There wasn't much time for thinking after that, as the window closest to us shattered, sharp pieces of glass raining down on us. I leapt out of the way in the nick of time. A giant hand (literally) forced itself into the corridor, grabbing the nearest person that it could.

There was a scream of fear as the person was forced back through the window and then silence. I shuttered to think what happened to him.

"PADMA! MOVE!" I dove down, tackling her at her knees to keep her from getting snagged by the Giant at the window. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

I crawled underneath the windowsill, Padma right behind me, as the Giant continued to peer through the shattered window. I stood as soon as we reached the solid wall near the staircase, where screams reverberated up the narrowed corridor.

"What's happening?" I asked Dean, who was closest to the courtyard window.

"More spiders are coming in through the hole. The giants are fighting now to- Oh Merlin…we have to move. Now, come on." Dean grabbed onto Padma's hand, rushing her toward the Grand Staircase before turning back to usher me toward it as well. As I passed the window, I saw a sickening sight of spiders overtaking Hogwarts' and Death Eater members alike. People crammed into the staircases, no longer fighting each other for You-Know-Who or Dumbledore, but fighting to see who could make it up the staircase first.

As the rush of people entered the hallway where we had just been, Draco got lost in the crowd. I spun around, looking eagerly around the corridor from my perched position on the Grand Staircase.

"We don't have time!" Seamus said as he pushed me farther up the stairs. "Just forget about him, we have to go!"

He pushed me onto the third floor landing, where Padma and Dean were racing down the corridor, trying to find another staircase that led to the main floor of the castle. I ran behind them, my breath catching in my throat. A stitch appeared in my side, but I didn't stop running.

We jogged down an empty staircase, pushing through a heavy wooden door that emptied into the base of the astronomy tower.

"That was a close-" I started to say, but was cut off once again by the voice of Hermione yelling "Come on, Harry! Patronuses!"

Seamus rushed forward, followed by Ernie and Luna, who had been stationed on the grounds of the castle, to another problematic issue that I hadn't even seen yet- dementors. At least a hundred of them. Closing in on us.

"HARRY! COME ON!"

"Go!" Seamus yelled as he pushed Dean toward the castle. He gestured toward Padma and me as he leapt in front of Hermione, wand at the ready. "I'll meet you in the castle later! Just go, now!"

Dean grabbed a hold of Padma's and my wrists as he ran toward the castle, a freshly renewed look of determination etched on his face. We raced toward the front steps to the Entrance Hall, where the spiders and Giants hadn't reached yet, but the duelers were still fighting at full force.

A few more order members had joined Ginny and Michael Corner, whose faces were glistening with sweat and forced concentration.

"I have more!" I heard some shriek and I glanced up in time to leap out of the way of a glass ball that came flying down from the banister of the Grand Staircase. Professor Trelawny, the batty, old Divination professor, had chucked a Crystal Ball from the second floor landing, where it smashed into pieces right in front of a Death Eater. "More for any who want them! Here-" she heaved another ball over the banister, pointing her wand at it quickly to send it whipping toward a Death Eater on the ground floor.

"That's the most use I've seen out of them yet!" I yelled over my shoulder to Padma, who grinned at my hate for Divination.

"Don't let Parvati and Lavender hear you say that!"

A deep voiced reverberated through the Hall, once again stopping everything and everyone instantaneously. "You have fought valiantly! Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a lost and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my troops to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured-"

The rest I tuned out as the Death Eaters immediately lowered their wands and started to walk toward the front doors, as if the fighting had never happened. It was a chilling, eerie thing to witness. There was one person who passed by that I wasn't anticipating on seeing, one person that made my heart stop.

My dad.

"Natalie? Is that you?" He rushed over, planting a palm on my cheek, running another one over my forehead as if checking for head injuries. He clawed at my upper arms, evidently in utter disbelief that I was stuck in the middle of this. "What are you doing here? You should have left when the school was evacuated!"

I pulled away from him, taking a few steps back to join my friends. "I can't leave. My friends are here. My life is here." I pointed an angry finger at him, my brow furrowed in the middle. "This is all your fault. The losses, the tragedies." My fury, sorrow, hopelessness began to pour over at this point. "One of my good friends died tonight. Because of you." I paused, taking a deep, ragged breath. "I don't ever want to see you again. Don't ever talk to me again."

"Natalie…" he said softly, taking a step toward me, but I quickly backed away a few more paces, putting a great distance between him and myself.

"Leave," I commanded, pointing at the double doors. "Your master demands it of you. You made your choice a long time ago. And now, I've made mine."

My father let out a long, sorrowful sigh. "If it still matters," he said slowly, as he started to back away from me, "I would still die for you rather than see you hurt." With that, he walked out of the castle, disappearing from view.

I let out the breath I had been holding in. Padma rushed to my side, grabbing a hold of my shoulder in support. "Are you okay? Do you need a moment?"

I turned to look at her, but the destruction caught my eye. Long gone were the large hour glasses that held the gems, each a different color for house points. Long gone were the beautiful statues and ornate designs on the staircase. It was all replaced by rubble, broke staircases, cracked ceilings, and bodies.

Lots of bodies.

"I know where I need to be right now," I said slowly, taking her hand and guiding her toward the Great Hall. "Come with me."


	27. Chapter 27

**We're closing in on the final chapter! Hope everyone has enjoyed this story so far, as I have loved writing, as I usually tell you.  
>As always, I love my readers. You all have been so good to me!<strong>

**Reviews are also lovely, so make sure to leave one before you go!  
>Read and enjoy!<strong>

"Is there really nothing you can do?" Padma hissed at me as she pulled me aside roughly. Parvati was crying hysterically, hunched over Lavender Brown's dead body. Padma turned to look at her sister, tears forming in her own eyes. She didn't know what to do, didn't know how to handle the death of her sister's best friend.

I shook my head, wiping the blood onto my jeans. "We've tried everything. She was gone before she even got here. Hermione mentioned that Greyback attacked her when they brought her in."

Padma shook her head in disbelief.

We hadn't even thought of the extent of the damage when You-Know-Who pulled his troops back. It hadn't even occurred to me that Fred Weasley wouldn't be the only murder that night. I had pulled Padma into the Great Hall, the only logical place I could think of for a mass gathering.

When we entered the Hall, it was complete chaos. I immediately joined Madam Pomfrey's side, fixing injuries, cleaning up blood, moving the bodies of dead duelers. Some people were more messy than others- Lavender Brown being the most vicious attack of them all.

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the hollowing sorrow that stemmed from Parvati. And she wasn't the only one.

The Weasley family gathered around Fred's body, silent tears running down their faces. Hermione had an arm slung comfortingly around Ginny's shoulders. Ron was in the middle of his brother's clutches, hugging each other tightly.

The other person that I recognized was Professor Lupin. Evidently Professor Lupin's wife died as well. I overheard Bill Weasley mention that they had a son at home- only a few weeks old. My heart ached for the boy, who would never know his parents.

As I opened my eyes, the dizzying, destroyed world consumed me once again. Harry Potter ran from the hall, his feet pounding heavily against the stone floor. I assumed that he didn't want anything to do with the battle anymore either.

"Earth to Natalie," Padma was saying as she shook my shoulder, gesturing toward the nurse that I had been helping that evening. "Madam Pomfrey wants to see you."

I nodded my thanks to my best friend before making my way toward Madam Pomfrey. She looked visibly torn as she tried to peel Parvati off of Lavender's blood covered body. I took a deep breath before kneeling down next to the mourning girl.

"It's going to be okay," I muttered as she fell back into my arms, her body wracking with sobs. "I promise, it's going to be okay." Madam Pomfrey took the opportunity to cover Lavender's body with a white sheet, as the vicious attack from the werewolf left her quite mutilated. "She's in a much better place now. No more fighting, no more worries." I watched over Parvati's shoulder as the blood from Lavender's body seeped onto the white sheet. My own body shuddered involuntarily.

The blood didn't bother me. The emergent situation we had found ourselves in didn't bother me. It was the fact that this was all going on around me- the death of Fred, the death of Lavender, the death of Professor Lupin. All of these young, healthy people who met their unfortunate ending way too early for my liking. That bothered me.

And it was all You-Know-Who's fault. All of it was.

I felt a small tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Padma pointing toward the entrance of the Hall. Oliver had just entered, a small body slung over his shoulder. I disentangled myself from Parvati as Padma kneeled down to take over consoling her sister.

I made my way through the wreckage, through the injured and dead bodies. "Do you need any help?" I muttered to Oliver, trying not to make a scene. A few people watched us with dull, unseeing eyes.

Oliver hung his head, shaking it slowly as he placed the small body on the stone ground. "No, he's already gone." I glanced down at the body- a knot tightening in my stomach as I recognized it as Colin Creevy. Oliver heaved a sigh as he continued to stare down at Colin. "I remember him," he said softly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Barely, but I remember him. My seventh year he used to stalk Harry Potter, taking pictures of him during quidditch practice. I used to hate him."

There was a low rumbling outside, as if a large something was walking toward the castle. People's heads perked up, glancing toward each other with confused expressions. A few people glanced out of the Great Hall.

"They're here," Ernie Macmillian shouted, his brow furrowing with concern. "They're all here."

As the mass rush of students, staff, and order member's began to make their way toward the Entrance Hall, a voice echoed over us, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone." There was a slight pause, where the only thing you could hear was the hitched breathing of disbelieving fighters. "The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters, will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

The voice cut off, but the words still reverberated around the Hall. Was Harry Potter really dead? Did he really try to run? I saw him run from the Hall, but I can't imagine Harry Potter running away to save himself, forgetting about the rest of us.

He had done some crazy things in his time at Hogwarts, but they were all beneficial for the safety of the students. Why run now?

The crowd began to file out of the Hall, despairingly and grudgingly making their way toward the front lawn with reserved expressions.

"He has to be bluffing," one older student said to another as he passed by, "Harry Potter wouldn't run out on us like that. He's probably hiding somewhere, that's all."

Padma grabbed my hand as she approached me and we made our way out of the Hall together. Parvati sat against the wall next to Lavender's body, silent tears running down her face as she kept a tight hold on Lavender's hand.

"NO!"

Padma and I stopped in our tracks, glancing at each other with wide-eyed fear. I recognized the voice, though it tore even further into my chest cavity considering I had never heard her make a noise like that before. Professor McGonagall was close to doubling over out of grief.

"No!"

"Harry, no, no!"

Hermione and Ginny started screaming as we approached. I managed to catch a glimpse over the shoulder of Ernie Macmillian. Harry was limp in Hagrid's arms. His glasses hung askew on his face. I felt my heart skip a beat as I realized what this meant…

You-Know-Who had won.

"SILENCE!" You-Know-Who yelled as he thrust his wand into the air. It went off with a bang, sending bright jets of light high into the sky. Quiet fell upon the crowd as we watched him with apprehension. "It is over. Set him down at my feet, Hagrid, where he belongs."

Hagrid sniffled loudly as he slowly and carefully set Harry into the grass. His limp body lay crooked against the green.

"You see?" You-Know-Who said, stepping over Harry toward the crowd. "Harry Potter is dead. Do you see now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice for him!"

Bellatrix Lestrange was almost bouncing in excitement behind You-Know-Who, cackling at random intervals. My breath hitched in my throat as I caught sight of Draco's parents, who were silently gesturing in a vague direction in the crowd. I twisted my head, my heart thrumming roughly as I saw Draco, silently shaking his head.

"He was killed trying to escape the castle grounds. Killed while trying to save himself-" You-Know-Who broke off as a scuffle broke out in the crowd. There was another loud bang, making me jump slightly, slamming into Ernie's back. I smiled apologetically at him as I took the opportunity to push forward through the crowd, grabbing Padma's wrist to drag her with me.

I watched in horror as Neville lay on the ground, looking up at You-Know-Who with irreverent hate. You-Know-Who threw his wand to the side, a slight smirk on his snake-like face.

"And who is this? Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Bellatrix cackled once again, delight filling her tone. "It is Neville Longbottom, my lord. The boy who has given the Carrows so much trouble!"

I felt a rise of pride in my gut for Neville. He did enough to catch Voldemort's attention.

"Ah yes, I remember," Voldemort said as he gazed down at Neville, who was struggling to get to his feet by this point. He stood between the Death Eater crowd and the Order crowd, no one daring to stand beside one. Everyone held their breath, unsure of what was going to happen next. "But you are pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

Neville jutted out his jaw, glaring at Voldemort once again. "So what if I am?"

"You show bravery and spirit, you come from noble stock. You will make a valuable Death Eater."

"I'll join you when hell freezes over!" Neville shouted as he thrust his fist into the air. "Dumbledore's army!" I joined the cheers that rang through the Order crowd, quieting down when I caught Voldemort's murderous stare.

"If that is your choice, Neville Longbottom, then we revert to the original plan," he said in a dangerously quiet voice, "On your head, be it."

Voldemort waved his wand in our general direction, causing us to duck out of fear. A window above us shattered, showering us with shrouds of sharp glass. Ernie tucked himself over Padma and I, grabbing us from behind and forcing us down. Drips of blood prickled up from the sides of Ernie's neck. I thanked him silently him with all of my heart and soul.

A misshapen object landed in Voldemort's hand and he shook it out quickly. I recognized the object as the sorting hat. Leaning into Padma's shoulder I whispered, "If the sorting hat sorts Neville into Slytherin, that would surely kill him off pretty fast."

Padma stifled a snort, recognizing that this wasn't exactly the best time to laugh at jokes. She elbowed me in the side, causing me to lean away from her shoulder.

We watched as Voldemort thrust the hat onto Neville's head as he struggled to stand, but the body-binding curse was holding tight. "Neville here is going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to oppose me."

I let out a scream of horror as the hat burst into flames. Neville's screams were muffled by the hat, which had fallen over his face. I rushed forward to help, but Seamus caught me around the waist and pulled me back. "We don't need you over there too!" he hissed furiously into my ear.

There was a roar just outside the castle, as if hundreds of people were running toward the front lawn all at once. "HAGGER!" a giant yelled out as he rushed around the walls of the castle, lumbering toward Hagrid with his arms stretched wide. A few of Voldemort's giants answered in the background, letting out roars of outrage. They ran toward the smaller giant, creating a small earthquake that had me clutching onto Seamus' arms to stay upright.

Shouts of surprise rang from the Death Eater crowd as they scattered away from Voldemort, breaking their ranks. I noticed a shower of arrows and a pounding of hooves against the cobblestone path that led toward the forest.

Just as the chaos broke out, Neville broke the curse Voldemort had set on him, setting toward Voldemort with a determined look on his face…_with a sword in his hand._

I scratched at Seamus' hands, which were still locked firmly around my waist to keep me grounded, as I spun around to face him. "How the hell did Neville get a sword?"

Neville swung the blade up, the glittering silver caught the blazing hat that lay on the ground. As he swung it down, time seemed to slow down for a moment. I watched in fascinated horror as he cut off the snake's head with a single stroke. The head swung in the air as the body thudded to the ground at Voldemort's feet. He let out a scream of fury that was barely heard over the chaotic crowd.

"Oh sh- Time to go!" I yelled as I latched onto Seamus and Padma's wrists, driving through the crowd just as the chaos really broke out. We rushed toward the castle, very much feeling like a salmon trying to swim upstream. I was bumped, pushed, and pulled in directions that I didn't mean to go, but I kept my eye fixed on the front door, my fingers locked firmly around my best friends' wrists.

I fought through a mob of house elves, holding meat cleavers, steak knives, and large pans, aiming for Death Eater ankles and knees as they ran toward the Great Hall. We fell into the Great Hall, fighting through duelers, centaurs, house elves to get to the center.

"Hey! You!" I turned to the side, craning my neck to see who was yelling. I ducked in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding a jet of light that streamed just over my head. I glanced back up. Seamus had broken off with Padma, joining in the fight on a fat Death Eater who was having a hard time maneuvering through the crowd.

I recognized the man that I had tried to curse me as Goyle Sr., who spent many hours at my house when I still lived with my father. I rose to my feet, drawing out my wand quickly as I watched him with uneasy eyes.

"You think you can switch sides, stupid girl?" he yelled as he threw another curse at me. I dropped to the ground once again, accidently tripping a house elf that was running away after stabbing a Death Eater in the leg. I shot to my feet, glaring at Goyle Sr once again. "You were born on this side, you should know how this-" He broke off mid-sentence, his eyes gleaming behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a frightened and unsure looking Lucius Malfoy.

"Where's your son, dear Lucius?" Goyle taunted the older Malfoy as he pushed past me. "Where's your traitorous wife, dear Lucius?" Malfoy looked unsure once again, evidently contemplating whether he should stun the man or not. I took the opportunity to do it myself.

"Stupefy!" I yelled at the man's back, hitting him square between the shoulder blades. Lucius stepped aside just as Goyle fell to the floor, his chin cracking nastily against the floor.

"AHHHH!" a scream let out behind me and I turned quickly to see Lee Jordan and George Weasley tackle an older looking Death Eater to the floor. George leapt up, smiling shortly at me before explaining. "He was trying to attack you from behind. Couldn't let him do that." He ruffled my hair slightly before turning his wand onto the man, stunning him in the back as he lay on the floor.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!" I heard another cry and I was thrust out of the way once again as the Weasley mother joined in the battle, turning her wand on Bellatrix, who accepted the new challenge with relish. Mrs. Weasley pushed her daughter, Hermione Granger, and Luna out of the way, protecting them like a mother hen. "OUT OF MY WAY!"

I watched with amazement for a moment, shoved against the stone wall because of the amount of people crammed into the Great Hall. Her wand flourished and spun as she sent jinx after relentless jinx toward Bellatrix, but her dueling didn't come unmatched.

"What will happen to your children when I kill you?" Bellatrix teased as she danced around Mrs. Weasley, "What happens when you go just like Freddie?"

A red hot flame burst inside me at the jibe toward one of my good friends and I started to push my way through the crowd, a determined and blazing expression on my face, when another hand snaked around my waist, pulling me into a known chest.

"Oh no you don't," Draco muttered in my ear as he pulled me back, "That is so not going to happen on my watch." I struggled against his upper body strength, but didn't wriggle out of his firm grasp.

Bellatrix cackled loudly, lowering her wand for a fraction of a second and I saw the opportunity Mrs. Weasley took before Bellatrix did. Her eyes widened as the spell hit her directly in the chest, she toppled over, unmoving. Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

Draco pulled me out of the way again, as he wasn't watching the death of his aunt play out in front of him. He was watching the reaction of the Dark Lord a few feet away. His anger exploded like the force of a bomb, his scream had me clutching at my ears.

"PROTEGO!" a low voice yelled, leaping out from under an invisibility cloak. The spell protected Mrs. Weasley from Voldemort's wrath.

"Harry!"

"HARRY!"

"He's alive!"

A wide circle spanned in the middle of the Hall as Voldemort and Harry Potter started to circle each other. I wriggled from Draco's grasp, pushing toward the front of the crowd.

"Nat-" he started to say, but he was quickly swallowed by the crushing force of the crowd.

"No one else help," Harry commanded loudly, his voice echoing over the now-silent room, "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me and him."

"He doesn't mean that," Voldemort jeered, his eyes narrowed as he watched Harry like a snake. "Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody," Harry replied simply, "The Horcruxes are gone. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good…"

"One of us? You think it will be me, do you? You only lived because Dumbledore was able to pull strings."

"Accident was it when my mother died trying to save me?" they continued to circle each other and I didn't take my eyes off the scene unfolding in front of me. It captivated me. "You won't be killing anyone else tonight. Don't you get it? I was ready to die for them in the forest."

"But you didn't die!" screeched Voldemort and I caught the hint of exasperation in his voice. I couldn't help but let out a small giggle that bubbled up from my chest. A Death Eater next to me shot me an odd look.

"I've done what my mother did! I've protected them," Harry continued, "Haven't you noticed that your curses don't hold? You can't torture them. You don't learn from your mistakes, do you Riddle?"

"You dare-"

"Yes, I dare. I know things you don't, Tom Riddle. Want to hear some before you make another big mistake?"

Voldemort did not speak for a moment, but I wasn't sure if that was out of intrigue or anger. "Is it love?" he finally jeered, "Love did not stop me from stamping out your mother like a cockroach. Love did not stop that old man falling from the top of that tower and breaking like waxwork at the bottom. You think you know more magic than I? Then I, Lord Voledmort, who has performed more magic than Dumbledore has ever dreamed of?"

"Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."

"You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"

"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"

"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."

I felt my jaw go slack. I thought Dumbledore was dead. Or was that a trick too? Harry Potter sure has a lot up his sleeve tonight…

"Dumbledore is dead! I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"

"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry. I momentarily was disappointed. "But you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."

"What childish dream is this?" said Voldemort. His red eyes did not waver from Harry's.

"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"

Voldemort did not answer.

"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized. He asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him-"

"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"

"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, who let out a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand! Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, it did." said Harry. "You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you think what you've done... Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle..."

"What is this?"

I watched with slight fear as his pupils contracted and the skin on his face paled.

"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left... I've seen what you'll be otherwise... Be a man... try... Try for some remorse..."

"You dare?" said Voldemort again, only this time it was dangerously quiet.

"Yes, I dare," said Harry, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle."

Voldemort's hand was trembling on the end of his wand, whereas Harry's hand was steady on the wand that he held.

"That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."

"He killed-"

"Aren't you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die, undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"

"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" Voldemort's voice shook with malicious pleasure. "I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"

"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard... The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance..."

Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly. I felt the curse coming and coming soon.

"The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."

I whipped back to look at Draco, whose face was blank with shock.

"But what does it matter?" he said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone... and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy..."

"But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him. So it all comes down to this, doesn't it? Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

The sun began to rise just above the Hall, bathing the crowd with bright, red-hot light. Voldemort took a deep breath, his trembling hand stilling as he pointed it toward Harry.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The bang was loud, loud enough to force me to throw my hands up to my ears. A golden flame marked the place where the two curses had met. Voldemort's wand went flying out of his hand and Harry leapt up to catch it. I turned my attention back toward Voldemort, who was falling backward, his arms splaying to the sides, his eyes rolling backward.

His body hit the stone floor with a crushing thud and then I realized what had just happened…

Harry Potter killed Voldemort.


	28. Chapter 28

**Wow…so here it is…the story finale. Cannot believe that we have got to this point already!  
>This is going to be a shorter chapter, just so you know, because it's more transitional than anything, but I hope you enjoy it all the same.<br>Also, make sure to watch out for the beginning of the third (and final!) installment of the series. I'll post a note to this story like I did to the last one if you don't check my page very often.**

**A few people I need to thank first…all my readers! I loved all the reviews and encouragement. I cannot begin to say how much my readers (the reviews, the alerts, the favorite author/story, and all those sneaky lurkers out there!) meant to me during this whole process. Made my life SO much easier.**

**A special thanks goes out to: Nizuna Fujieda, dreamy-silhouettes, JuicyLucy921, lenie954, Miss F Cullen, LuckySock, loveactuallyy, Cassia4u, ashrachellexx, Hereliesdobbyafreeelf, TheIvorySky, Drkness'sDaughter, lovehorses13, gogo21, inc4ndescent, BetweenTheInfluence, PurpleBlackSilver, Crazy-rainbow-bitcha, osnapitzlilly, MadalynValentine, Nicky-Maree, Ergelina, OddPotato, rjnkr, Puckabrina dreamer, for all the wonderful reviews that you have written for me. I read them all and I just loved them!**

**Anyways, let's get onto the good stuff, shall we?  
>Reviews are still wonderful!<br>Read and enjoy!**

I sat by the lake, gazing out at the water as the sun's rays danced off the small waves that the breeze created. The giant squid lazed at the surface, stretching his large tentacles over the warm rocks that sat at the edge. This was the only serene part of the grounds, where the destruction wasn't evident and bodies weren't scattered throughout the different rooms.

If I turned to the right, I would see the Forbidden Forest- the trees uprooted, Hagrid's house still smoking from the recent fire, the garden torn apart. If I turned to the left, I would see a small piece of the castle- stones littering the base, holes in the wall, a red substance that I had a feeling was blood was smeared nastily over one of the stones. If I looked directly behind me, I would see the castle in its entirety. And I didn't want to see my beloved school in the shape it was in now.

So, there I sat, facing the lake. The only part of the grounds that hadn't been touched.

Seamus stood from his crouched position next to Dean and walked over toward me, smiling down as he sat in the grass on my left, effectively blocking the small portion of castle that I could see in my peripheral.

"They seem to have really hit it off," I muttered with a small smile on my face as Dean animatedly told Padma a story of how he escaped the Death Eaters at the Malfoy Manor. I had a feeling some of it was exaggerated, as I had been at the house that night (unbeknownst to him), but I didn't have the heart to correct him. She looked so happy- smiling and laughing loudly at all the right parts.

She gasped, placing a hand on his upper arm as her face dropped into a shocked expression. A small smile played on Dean's lips as she touched him, signifying to me that he didn't mind the contact too much.

Seamus and I watched in silence for a moment, taking in the sun's rays and the beautiful sight before us. The light at the end of the tunnel. I sighed deeply, breathing in the cool, morning breeze.

"Do you remember our deal?" Seamus asked in his familiar Irish brogue, smirking as he turned his head to look at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I remember the deal, Seamus," I said as I leaned back onto my elbows, crossing my legs at my ankles. "But I don't think it's going to happen."

His face fell slightly as he glanced down at me. "And why not?"

I shrugged. "This past year was insane. I mean, really insane. I didn't put in any applications toward schools. Hell, I don't even know if I graduated. It would just be a bad time to go away."

Seamus was silent for a moment while he contemplated my words. "Well, if you were still interested… I put in your applications for you." He managed to pull off a faux-shy expression as I whipped my head around to face him, shocked.

"You did what? How?"

He wound a blade of grass around his pointer finger as he spoke. "I knew you were busy and distracted with everything going on, so I put your application in at a Nursing school in the United States. You said you wanted to get away, so you got away. I talked to Professor McGonagall and she sent over your grades, explaining the situation." He stopped playing with the grass and turned to look me square in the eye. "You got in, you know. Into the school. I did too."

I furrowed my brow. "You applied too? And how do you know I wanted to be a nurse?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Natalie, we've been best friends for almost a year. You spoke very highly of helping people. You wanted to do nothing but fix the injuries during the battle last night. Don't tell me you don't want to be a nurse."

I flushed slightly, pleased that he knew me that well. I didn't know that he knew me that well.

"As for me, I figured what the hell…something to do right? And the United States can't be too bad…I mean, it's a whole ocean away from Fergus."

I giggled at his comment, pushing myself off my elbows so I was sitting up. I wrapped my arms around my knees, pulling them toward my chest.

"Natalie! Hey! Natalie!"

I glanced over my shoulder, trying to ignore the broken castle that came into full view, as I watched Draco Malfoy walk down the front lawn towards us. Seamus hopped to his feet, squeezing my upper arm as he made his exit. "Just think about it," he muttered as he made his way toward Dean and Padma, whose fingers were now brushing each other lightly.

Draco stood awkwardly in front of me for a moment before holding out his hand. I put my own hesitantly into his, letting out a squeal of surprise as he pulled me easily to my feet.

"Can we take a walk?" he said quietly, eyeing the three that sat by the lake. I could tell they were trying to pretend like they weren't listening. I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest as I headed down the bank toward the Forest. I didn't want to be anywhere near the castle. Draco followed.

"Let me just get straight to the point," he said quickly, grabbing my arm softly so I had to turn and look at him. He placed a few fingers under my chin, forcing met to look into his gray eyes. "I want to start over. This whole…whatever it was. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

I snorted. "We got off on the wrong foot for 2 years."

He ignored me, pressing on. "I want you, this whole battle made me realize it."

I was quiet for a moment, contemplating his words in my mind. Of course, I loved Draco with all my heart. His touch and his smell made me continually weak at the knees. On the other hand, when I thought about the past two years all that came to mind was the fighting, the going back and forth, his lack of a backbone, his insults. Could I put up with that for even longer?

"Well, say something," he said, a tinge of irritation in my voice.

I took a deep breath. "I want to start over too…" I trailed off, looking at the ground.

"But…"

I looked back up at him. "But I'm going to start over without you, Draco. Seamus and I…we've moving away." The answer surprised even me and as it came out of my mouth, I realized that it was the right decision. I was moving away with Seamus. "Just as friends," I amended quickly, "But all the same, we're still going."

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "No, Malfoy, listen. These past two years have been emotionally draining at best. I need to figure things out for myself, be my own person. And I think you need that too. You don't know what you want, Draco. You're so back and forth all the time and I can't deal with that anymore-"

"I know what I want," he cut in quickly, panic rising in his voice. "I know what I want, Garcia, and it's you. It's always been you. This battle put things into perspective for me-"

I shook my head, taking a step back from him. "No, Malfoy, no it didn't. I'm sorry, but I know it didn't. All we do is fight and insult. It would be perfect and amazing and all the in-between for a little while, but then it would slowly go back. I don't want that for the rest of my life and you don't either."

He shook his head, trying to wrap his arms around me, but I took a few steps back, holding up my hands. "Please, please don't."

I turned around to walk away, leaving him frozen and stunned. "Natalie!" he called after me, but I continued walking. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and run to him, throw my arms around his neck, breath in his scent. But I knew, deep, deep down that I needed more. I deserved more than fighting and arguing.

With that thought playing over and over in my mind, I continued to walk away from the one boy that I had grown to love.


	29. AUTHOR NOTE

**Hello all my wonderful readers!  
>Just as a heads up, Better Late than Never is now up and running!<strong>

**Head over there, check it out, make sure to leave a review and let me know how you like it! **


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